We just watched the "Swallow's Nest" battle between Chen and a Hong Kong chef last night, and we spent the entire show asking, "What the hell is swallow's nest made out of?"
It looked like a cross between jellyfish and shark fin, and was clearly gelatinous. An explanation of its source was not forthcoming. All we kept being told was that it had no flavor of its own, and that they'd spent $24,000 to bring in a few baskets full of the stuff. Twenty four grand. Must be hard to get.
So I looked it up.
( Cut for the easily squicked. )No wonder they didn't explain.
::shudder::