Since the ancient pass, birdnest has already been regarded as a previous and tasty food and nutrition for bodily nourishing. If we want to know the history when the Chinese start to savor birdnest, then it should go back to Tang Dynasty during which the merchants at coastal areas always use Chinese porcelains to trade against birdnests from Southeast Asia. They regard the birdnests as some of the finest food known.

In Southeast Asia, the birdnests are found in countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. In these areas, the cave swallow bird builds the nest as a place of refuge to hold its eggs and a place to raise its offspring at the limstone caves. It is discovered that the nest contains the saliva which has high protein ingredient. As the harvest for the nest is risky, the birdnests are indeed rare and expensive.