Bird's nest soup

Do you know what Bird's nest soup are made of? Do you like eating them?

This Chinese delicacy actually comes from cave swiftlets' saliva! Yickie if you think of it. But they really are yum! I've seen a video of how the swifts create this nest for days, only to be taken a few days by the harvesters. And these harvesters do such an amazing job! They lower themselves onto the cave (mostly in South Asia, Northeast Australia, and some Pacific islands) and then use a steep ladder to reach the edible nests. A 'craft' that has been around for hundreds of years, birds nest soup has high levels of potassium, iron, calcium and magnesium, and is said to reinforce the human immune system.

Did you know that our very own El Nido in Palawan is one of the places where they do harvest bird's nests?

And, did you know that a kilogram of white nest can cost to about US$2000! And a kilogram of "red blood" nest (treated with red pigment) can cost up to US$ 10,000!!

Next time you eat bird's nest soup, think about the effort that has gone into making this amazing delicacy. 1. The swift bird doing their thing, making the nest. 2.The cave harvesters who risked their lives to "plow" the nest. 3. Cleansing of the bird's nest, 4. Selling the birds' nest to the restaurateur 5. Transporting the ingredient to the restaurant 6. Chef cooking it up. 7. Serving the birds nest soup to your table.