Thursday, April 09, 2009

How to eat Balut

Really, there's only one thing that came to my mind when I found out Thursday's Theme was "egg", and that is...

BALUT


For the weak hearted, DO NOT PROCEED! :p ...

Balut is a Filipino delicacy (yes it's food!), a soft boiled duck egg with a semi-formed duck embryo. It is also widely regarded as an aphrodisiac.
Enjoy the rich taste of balut, the yellow part is soft and the darker part is crunchy! Why crunchy? Because it's the little unhatched baby duckling!

How to Eat Balut

Here's how to properly enjoy a balut:

1. Well, first you have to buy one from a street vendor who usually comes at night yelling, "Baluuuut!!! Baluuut!!!". He will give you one egg wrapped in old newspaper shaped liked an upturned sailor's hat, and a small plastic packet of salt.

2. The egg is kept warm in the vendor's cart, so it will be a bit warm to the touch. Hold it firmly at the smaller end of the egg and crack open the other side by lightly tapping it on a hard surface (you head will do!)

3. When you've created a small hole by removing some shell bits, you suck out the juice of the balut (complete with all the duckling's amniotic fluid!). Slurp! Very good!



4. Take off the rest of the shell to get to the "meat" of the balut. Chow down with conviction (and don't stop to think!) eating the yellow part with a bit of salt, and the crunchy baby duckling too.



5. Enjoy your balut! "Pampalakas ng tuhod!" (To make your knees strong!)


All photos are from a friend's recent birthday party, with san miguel beer and balut among other things!

Related article on Balut!
NBC's Fear Factor

32 comments:

  1. Always nice to hear what others do in their country ; )

    Er, talking about disturbing ; (

    the film in question, was in its day ; )

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wondered what kind of beverage you serve with balut. I see that it is beer! An eggcellent choice. Although, I think it would take a whole lot of whiskey to get me to suck the balut. But it looks like a contemporary favorite in your country. Thanks.

    Balut vendors? Really? How do they know there is a little crunchy baby duckling in there? Why do my knees have to be strong? Oh, you have raised so many questions my head is starting to hurt.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so sure that my Grandpa ate this too. But he never told me about this. And you know we just had to click to see the rest of the story. Yes, it would take lots and lots of beer before I could do this. It just seems like one of those coming of age manly things to do. And yes, I like Ronda wondered how they know the little baby ducky is in there.

    Thank you for sharing, always interesting to see what my ancestors used to do.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Just a reminder for all of us TT's to vote for reyjr for best Filipino blog site. Please go to blog posted before this one. We want our guy to win first place again. Yea, he rocks!! Auntie told me so.

    God bless.

    PS...we can vote everyday.

    ReplyDelete
  5. lol. have known about Balut but have not tried it. i am a sucker for exotic foods. might be interesting. thanks for the advice on eating it when i am given the opportunity. "to strengthen the knees"-ha!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Discovery blog ! :o)
    How interesting...the post.. I think I'm going to stick to chocolate for now! Don't take it personnal ;o) !

    ReplyDelete
  7. OMG Reyjr!beurk...sorry but just beurk!
    Although original post,no one would have thought about that our minds are full of chocolate!
    LOL

    Don't you dare inviting me to eat that!NEVER!
    LOL

    Have a nice day crazy guy :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. Always interesting to see "delicacies" from other cultures, but not something that is particularly appetizing to me. Glad you shared this with us.

    By the by, I was born in a Dog Year also (1946).

    ReplyDelete
  9. To each their own, I suppose... :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Veeeeeery interesting! I might take a taste, but I'm not so sure about the slurping of the juice.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I couldn't eat it myself but anything 'crunchy' always sounds appetising.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'll try anything, at least once. I know the Japanese have some real weird dishes( 100 year old eggs, poison fish, bat guano soup ). Even in the U.S. you can find some "distrubing" delicacies, especially in Cajun country. Yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I loved knowing such thing exists lol

    However I don't think I would try it now that I know what it is lol

    take care
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ha! Now I know why you knew the answer to that question on my quiz!

    I don't know why American's are so freaked out by this food. We eat chicken and we eat eggs but something in between seems to be unthinkable.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Reyjr,
    I've heard of Balut, but have never seen it. I'm always game for trying everything at least once. When in Thailand I ate dry-roasted water bugs. Crunchy!!!
    For Balut, I will have to drink more than just a couple of beers...
    Does anyone put soy sauce on Balut?
    Salute to Balut!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Not sure if I could stomach it. interesting info though

    -Kels

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi! Reyjr,
    All I can say is Wow!...Thanks, for sharing!information about a "delicacy" from your culture, that I most definitely, wasn't aware of!...Balut.

    Deedee ;-D

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi CM! Haha! Well, it WAS disturbing, and so is the balut. lol! I don't eat it by the way. :p

    Hi Ronda! Yes, everyone needs his/her knees to be strong! Haha!

    Mrsupole! Sure, your granpa might have had some balut. Did he live in Manila?

    Brian! Lol, I hear it's actually not bad tasting at all!

    Mariane - lol! Chocolate is dessert! Balut is a snack. :p Or beer food!

    Candie: haha! I won't 'coz I don't eat it either. :D

    tut-tut: it IS quite scary, i agree.

    Lizzy: Zodiac-mate!

    Wings: lol. at least it's not pig hooves. lol. maybe when the theme is hooves. haha!

    willow: go ahead and try it for the experience. :D I've had it before but you won't see me eating again haha!

    Rinkly: haha! crunchy coz of the skull and bones of the baby ducky...

    subtorp77: haha! yes indeed, in ants and beetles and even field mice... ugh!

    Marianna: Haha, I suggest you try it just to know what it tastes like, or at least you can tell your grandchildren about it!

    DineometerDeb: Lol! Yep. :D Every Filipino knows about balut.

    Auntie: No soy sauce! Only a pinch of salt. But of course with these things, there are no rules (much like theme thursday aye?)

    Kels: Thanks for the visit then! Haha!

    Avid: Personally I would eat the yellow part, but not the gross part. Haha!

    Deedee: Try it! And then tell us about it. :D

    Thanks all for the visit!! Happy Thursday!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I Think I Would Rather Eat The Shell!(& only then,if washed first.......)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I've eaten some way out things in other countries but I never went this far...yikes!

    ReplyDelete
  21. tony: haha, but you'll deny yourself the experience!

    VE: it's not that bad really. I suppose it's more psychological...

    ReplyDelete
  22. I'm not sure I could eat that, but very interesting to learn about other food traditions!

    ReplyDelete
  23. OMG everyone's being so polite (except Candie who has a think about Bjork!) but it's disgusting! Then again I suppose eating veal is the same level of disgusting . . .thanks for sharing. I wish I'd come here before that 'quizz' on eggs, I might have scored more than one point! Now I'll never look at my backyard duck's eggs in the same light! (Better make sure there are no Phillipinos around they might get snavelled for balut!)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Dot-Com: haha. yes it is, even while cringing while reading!

    Baino: Eating bunny rabbits is pretty disgusting for me too. :p

    ReplyDelete
  25. gusto ko! gusto ko ng balut!!!

    nakakamiss :(

    ReplyDelete
  26. Balut! Reminds me of a Survivor episode. It was one of the eating challenges. A challenge indeed, I say!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I really enjoyed that post. I consider myself pretty adventurous with food, but I'm not sure I could eat one of these. I like ducklings, you see.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thank you for stopping by my post. Can't comment on yours, because I couldn't read all of it.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Weak hearted! It looked like something that might not be pleasant, so I didn't proceed.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Dakota Bear: Hahaha! For a moment, I thought it was a system error. :O
    Thank you for the visit anyway!!!

    Kris: Lol. I agree, ducklings ARE cute. :D

    Megan! Yes! They have featured this on Survivor and Fear Factor.

    chikletz: wala bang imported Balut dyan?

    ReplyDelete