Identifying Authentic Edible Bird’s Nest

Very often, the experience of buying Edible Bird’s Nest can be full of suspense and can easily turn out to be a scam if we are not too careful. Even buying from the regular Edible Bird’s Nest shop would not fully protect you from the probability of being conned.

In the market, there are many unethical businessmen who would increase the weight of Edible Bird’s Nest by adding additives like white fungus, jelly and skin. Some dishonest vendors even apply red dye to their Edible Bird’s Nests in order to fetch higher prices. So, play it safe – choose only pure Edible Bird’s Nest!

Identifying Authentic Edible Bird’s Nest

There are a few tests you can use to distinguish authentic and fake Edible Bird’s Nests:

Fake Edible Bird’s Nests: The Crumble Test

The biological make-up of a real Edible Bird’s Nest is such that, when you crumble it between your fingers, the nest breaks down into a powder like substance.
Man-made, chemical-based Edible Bird’s Nests are fragile just like the real version, but, when you try to crumble a fake between your fingers, it breaks off into big chunks.

Fake Edible Bird’s Nests: The Soak Test

An important part of making Edible Bird’s Nest soup is soaking the nest in water for 1-2 hours. This rehydration process gives the nest the consistency it needs to integrate into your soup.
Post-soak shape: Fake nests are more uniform
A real Edible Bird’s Nest will, after about 30 minutes, transform into a gelatinous, formless shape.
The fibers of the nest will be somewhat visible, but not nearly as uniform as they were when they were dry. You may also find a feather or two; this is completely normal.
Fake Edible Bird’s Nests, on the other hand, will maintain a uniform shape during the soaking process and will have a minor chemical or fatty/fried smell. The surface of the fake Edible Bird’s Nest will be bumpy.
Post-soak size: Fake nests don’t expand
Real Edible Bird’s Nest usually double in size after the soaking stage, whereas fake Edible Bird’s Nests remain the same size.
In fact, real nests can absorb up to seven to nine times their weight in water.
Soak color: Fake nests bleed
Arguably the most prized Edible Bird’s Nest type is the blood nest, a red Edible Bird’s Nest thought to be colored by blood in the swiftlet’s saliva.
Once your soak is done, the real red Edible Bird’s Nest will retain its blood-red color. The red coloring of a fake Edible Bird’s Nest will bleed into the water, a sign that artificial colors were used to tint the nest.

Soak Consistency: Fake nests cloud water

Because Edible Bird’s Nests are made from a swiftlet’s water-based saliva, they mix well with water. For example, if you were to stir a Edible Bird’s Nest while it was soaking, a bubbly foam would appear on the surface of the water.
Fake Edible Bird’s Nests are made from chemicals. So, if you were to stir a fake Edible Bird’s Nest, it would cloud the water instead of creating a surface foam.

Company Edible Bird’s Nest

At Company, we pride ourselves for the quality and the authenticity of our Edible Bird’s Nest. We send batches of our Edible Bird’s Nest for laboratory testing to confirm its authenticity - so that our customers can have the assurance that they are purchasing genuine Edible Bird’s Nest from Company.
CHOOSE QUALITY. CHOOSE COMPANY.