Filipina Soul

Balut. Either you just love it, or you are revolted by it. Those who love eating this asian delicacy swear by just how tasty it is, especially with beer. Balut is very nutritious and chock-full of proteins. Some even consider it as an aphrodisiac.

It’s more than just about the taste though. Eating balut is more about ‘fear factor’. They say that once you conquer fear, you feel invicible and only then do you really start living.

Balut is a fertilied duck egg with a partially developed duck fetus inside. In the Philippines, it is prepared mostly by simply boiling like you would a regular hard boiled egg, and it is best served warm.

So how does one eat balut? Some say like a hard-boiled egg. Peel the egg, bite through and eat it a little at a time. Others say it’s like eating tempura sushi roll – just put the whole egg (or as much of it) into your mouth, chew and crunch through. Yup. ‘crunch’ is the clincher. Depending on how old the embryo is, you might feel and hear tender duck bones break in your mouth as you chew… but then it’s really just like eating tempura sushi rolls. Or something like that.

Here is a video of someone enjoying balut. (Warning: graphic video)

eat Balut (duck fetus) from alba on Vimeo

And how to properly eat it? Ubersite shows us perfectly.

1. Take a freshly boiled balut in one hand.

2. Make sure you have the “flat” bottom of the balut facing you and tap it lightly on any hard surface until you see hairline crack form on its surface.

3. Remove bits of shell until you have a cavity the size of a penny.

4. Inside the cavity you will find a paper-thin film of white tissue. Remove this.

5. Drop in a pinch of rock salt, place the opening to your lips, tip your head back and slurp up the broth. Delicious.

6. Widen the cavity by removing more bits of shell until you have enough exposed to be able to bite off a sizeable chunk of the balut. Don’t forget to sprinkle more rock salt.

7. Go on eating until you get to the bato (rock) or the hard white portion. Discard.

8. When you get to the bottom, there will be a little more broth left over. Drop in a small pinch of salt and drink up.

Nothing to it, right? Yeah right. Eddie of Deep End Dining describes how balut “haunts you long after you ingest it. It stays with you forever.”

Even when I try hard not to think about what I’m eating, somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind I’m aware that I’m eating a fetus, life that is yet to be, something unborn, taboo food. Also, this awareness has nothing to do with political-religious beliefs. It is simply the unappealing idea of eating a fetus.

Guess what? Eddie ate that balut and lived to tell about it.But obviously, balut is not for the faint-hearted. And I for one, am having my stomach turn green while writing this, while my hubby is loving every bite of it.

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