Is bird's nest soup suitable for vegetarians?

Question

Is bird's nest soup suitable for vegetarians?

Answer 1

Cocoa is right, I am a former chef and have cooked them and eaten the soup in many Asian countrys, in some occurances there is meat in the soup stock or base, some add things like carrots, quail eggs, chicken meat, or pork products, it is dependant on the country of the restaurant or person making the soup.

The nest are from the Asian Cliff swallow and true it is an excretion of there saliva or proteins that form the nests, to harvest them the harvester must climb over steep cliffs and hang on baskets to retrieve the nests, one wrong move and it can be over a 200 ft fall to the forest floor below, like truffles and certain other delicacies because of there rarity and way they are harvest and found make them highly prized and expensive, I have made soup with them, you sometimes have to clean small feather out, and when cooked are clear and look like spagehetti noodles, not much if any taste it is the rarity and expense people get all worked up for, not me, here in Toronto Canada some Chinese restaurants sell it for $20+ a bowl and I have seen in the herbal shops and specialty stores in Chinatown, they go for $15-20 an ounce.

Answer 2

From Chinese restaurants?  Probably not.

Answer 3

I guess if you cook the nests in veggie broth rather than chicken broth.

Answer 4

Obviously you have no previous knowledge regarding vegetarians. Vegetarians do not eat animals.

Answer 5

Ok - birds nest soup does not include birds, just their nests which are partially together with their saliva. As long as you are vegetarian and not vegan, I think it is fine. Either way, the birds are not killed for the nests, Nor are the birds eaten.

Answer 6

I believe it has bird parts in it as well.  If you are eating birds nets soup I think you are already throwing your diet out the window to eat exotic food.  You cant eat cultural stuff and be picky.