Love it or hate it, balut is here to stay–and evolve

It may look funky to foreign eyes, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a Filipino who doesn't like balut, the boiled-alive duck embryo delicacy.

Indeed, if a Filipino had been a contestant in that "Fear Factor" episode where everyone had to eat balut, they would have won hands down—and perhaps asked for some salt or vinegar.

But how much do you know about balut?

Preparing the eggs

Pateros is the place to go if you're ever seized with a craving for the unborn duck. Considered the Balut Capital of the Philippines, there are stores left and right laden with piles of balut eggs just inside.

After the duck lays the eggs, the seller has to wait 17 or 18 days before shining a bright light on these. When asked why this was so, a Pateros storeowner explained in a "News to Go" video aired Friday thus, “Para matawag na siyang balut sa puti (wrapped in egg white).” 

Afterward, the eggs are washed and then placed in a vat to boil for over an hour.

According to a CNN article on balut, the 17- to 18-day wait only applies to duck eggs, while waiting 13 to 14 days is enough for chicken eggs.

Along Rizal Boulevard in Dumaguete, one will encounter many vendors selling balut eggs. You have the option to buy a 16-day-old egg or an 18-day-old egg. Those who are a little squeamish about eating the chicks may want to buy the former, as the eggs of the latter tend to have more fully-grown, feature-defined, feathery chicks.

How to eat balut

Despite its widespread popularity, is quite possible for a Filipino to grow up never having eaten balut. According to CNN, “acceptance of balut often depends on exposure at a young age, much like Vegemite in Australia.”

In an apparent attempt to preserve the delicacy's popularity among the country's rapidly modernizing and discriminating palates, some schools in the Philippines introduce balut to young students during science classes.

Students use balut to study the anatomy of birds, then eat the compressed bird beak, veins and developing wings within. One can either develop a love or an overwhelming disgust for balut after this.

But perhaps the disgust may stem partially from eating balut the wrong way? After all, it can get messy.

According to Alma Otero, captain of Barangay Poblacion in Pateros, one has to roll the egg on a flat surface first to find out where the soup might be. Then one must crack the egg and make a hole in the shell large enough to slurp the soup out of.

Sprinkle salt, drink the soup, then proceed to peeling off the rest of the shell. Additionally, one may dip the chick, yolk, and cartilege in salt or vinegar before eating.

But that's just eating it plain and simple. Balut can be added to dishes for an extra kick, such as Spicy Balut Laing and Pasta Balut in Creamy Sauce (where bits of balut can already be ground into the pasta).

Another example is Sizzling Balut in Oyster Sauce. The ingredients, apart from balut, include sugar, garlic, ground pepper, salt, butter, green bell peppers, onions, and leeks—cook them all together, and you have an instant gourmet dish.

“Iyan ang ipinapangarap ng bayan ng Pateros,” said Otero. “Hindi lang sa simpleng nilagang balut na makilala ang Pateros, kundi sa iba't-ibang gourmet.”

Balut in other lands



Filipinos in different parts of the world are coming up with creative ways to make the delicacy more palatable (well, maybe not physically) for citizens of their host nations.

For example, Maharlika, a Filipino restaurant in New York City, has been holding balut-eating contests for the last two years—and even non-Filipinos have joined in.

“We started the balut-eating contest to take away the stigma of balut,” said Miguel Trinidad, executive chef of the Jeepney Filipino Gastropub in a "News to Go" video aired Friday. “We wanted to make Filipinos proud of presenting balut to a new audience and we also want to take away their fear factor—so...it's not as bad as it might look.”

“I think that people will continue to experiment and try to go out and see balut,” he added. “And hopefully, you'll see it more widespread across the United States.” — Vida Cruz/JDS, GMA News