Mrs. Cheung's Unexpected Discovery: Are Her Mother's Leftover Fish Maw and Bird's Nest Really Worth This Much?

Mrs. Cheung's Unexpected Discovery: How Much are the Fish Maw and Bird's Nest Left by Her Mother Really Worth?

Mrs. Cheung, 62, worked as an office clerk at a bank before retirement, known for her meticulous and organized nature. After her mother passed away earlier this year, she was left with an apartment full of things to sort through. Clothes, bedding, dishes, kitchenware, old newspapers, old magazines—these were all easily handled, donated or discarded. But when Mrs. Cheung opened the deepest, tallest cabinet in the kitchen, she didn't know what to do.

"The entire cabinet was full of dried goods—a large bag of fish maw, several boxes of bird's nest, and some abalone and sea cucumber," Mrs. Cheung described the scene. "The items were wrapped in cling film, then covered with plastic bags, layer after layer. That's how my mother used to be—she'd buy things and store them away, until she herself forgot about them."

Thirty Years of Untouched Fish Maw

Mrs. Cheung had limited knowledge of dried goods. She knew fish maw and bird's nest weren't cheap, but she didn't know how expensive they really were, let alone if they still had any value after so many years. Her biggest question was very practical: "Are these things still edible? Does anyone still want them?"

She asked a few friends; some said, "They've been there so long, they're probably no good," while others said, "Aged fish maw is very valuable." The two opinions were completely contradictory, and Mrs. Cheung grew more confused until she searched online and found Hong Kong Collectibles.

How We Assess the Quality of Dried Goods

After receiving Mrs. Cheung's message, we scheduled a time to visit and inspect the items. Upon arrival, we saw that the tall cabinet contained a considerable amount of goods—about a dozen pieces of fish maw, four boxes of bird's nest, and several packages of different types of dried seafood.