Before even starting I know whats already on your mind… What the hell is Balut most of you would ask? In fact it’s simply a fertilized duck egg with an almost fully matured embryo inside that’s served boiled alive and eaten in its shell. They are considered delicacies in South East Asia and particularly the Philippines, Vietnam & Cambodia.
Now for an intro to the story… After a long & strenuous previous night out partying that started at the All-you-can-drink Conway’s bar of the luxurious Shangri-la Hotel in Makati & eventually ending in the Ermita Cowboy Grill somewhere estimated around 6:30 AM. We were invited to a BBQ later that afternoon by 2PM at some of Leif’s Filipino friends place. Given this I would never have imagined that I would be in the best mindset to attempt eating balut that night. But as the barbecue went on well into the evening and as our fourth case of San Miguel was underway a new sense of strength embodied us. Eventually the persistent hangover was but a distant memory and everyone’s systems were fully operational again. That is when all of a sudden a Balut vendor passed by and the dare between me & Stewart was set…
First of all I must say your friend and humble narrator is very proud to have made it all the way up from scratch to the second position of the top 10 disgusting food. You can go take a look to have a better ideas of the other treats offered there. Basically depending on the exact number of days (17 to 21) of maturity it should look either something like the picture on the left to a bit more developed duck like I had on the right with feathers, bones & and a hard beak:
It’s funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you see them in full resolution so lets have a closer look of whats inside a when peeling a balot egg…
Part I: Vincent
After a few explanations from a local on the techniques of eating balut and what I was going to endure I figured adding as much salt as possible would be a good idea.
Oh well time to dig in and savor the delicious flavor…
At this point my body told me something wasn’t right with ingesting this food & I started heaving and gagging a bit..
Glad to the virtues of San Miguel I was able to chug down those nasty pieces I could feel refusing entry.
Ok… From a quick peek of what’s gonna have to be swallowed this is far from a won battle. Salt it up more please!
Look at that nice consistency and color of what’s going in..
Chewing it now all into nice little even shaped pieces…
And for the hard part.. To swallow the damn thing.
Here you can actually see very well the duck’s beak,eyes, feathers & all that nastiness…
NOW THIS IS THE MONEY SHOT YOU NEED TO ZOOM INTO FULL RESOLUTION!
A combat until the last final moment but the job got done nonetheless. Mission accomplished!
Part II: Stewart
All pumped up & ready for action!
But things aren’t always as easy as they appear at first..
Oh No, it’s not quite over yet…
Always gets the best when one reaches the middle part.
Getting it down is again a whole other deal.
Aren’t these tasty treats lovely Asian delicacies?
Little close up on what’s left
And here’s a real pro doing it… two quick bites & it’s over Johnny!
12 comments
nice photos , thanks for your information.
Excellent shots vince ,well done,you’re a very brave boy!!! Loud applause !!!!!;-D
I’ll bookmark your photo blog,cheerio !
Hello Vincent,
Hahahahaha… when I saw your reaction on our delicacy, I laugh a lot on you! it’s might be because your not from my Country. I am a Filipina, and now presently living in Canada. I loved Balut so much, I missed to eat fresh balut. I can eat 6 balut at a time or more, I really enjoyed having it and I have my friend (Canadian, who’s really felt bad everytime we discuss about that crazy and wierd delicacy) hahahaha…..
I thank you for posting Our famous Balut… I hope, whoever view or read your blog enjoy and have time to visit my country… Once again, Thanks and Mabuhay…..
I loved Philippines, my Mother Land:)
Ewww! Disgusting! Literally eating a duck fetus, that’s what it is. I’m from Cebu City, Phil., living in Canada, I’ve never liked this delicacy, no offense. There are other good tasting delicacies in the Philippines.
Wow, I’m impressed. I’m an ex-pat living in the Philippines. I have never had the nerve to eat balut. When my gf eats it I insist that she wait 30 minutes before kissing me. I stopped to buy it for her and the vendor looked at me incredulously and asked if I knew what it is. I saw the look in her eyes and said “of course.” She replied, “but… you’re a foreigner!”
dear “Jan” – yea, I love how your Filipina pride comes out about something thats disgustingly unsafe to eat. Many tourists every month goto the hospital for trying this so-called delicacy. Just because treemonkeys can eat crap does not make it a delicacy.
I notice how you ‘love’ your country soooo much, that you left the motherland completely to live, marry, and work in a country whose language you can barely understand. I hope like mad that you’re not sending your money home as remittance, thats just stealing from Canada.
It’s just barbaric, and to feel like you’re brave and cool because you are induging in a something that requires such cruelty and disconnection with being a caring human being is a sign of your inhumanity, courseness and position low down on the scale of the evolution of human consciousness.
Complètement dégoutant, qu’elle coutume barbare. Évoluez un peu!
C’est a peu de chose près la même chose que le reste de la planète dirait a te voir manger de la poutine 😉
Faut oser manger le balut, j’ai pas pu personnellement. 🙂
coool I LOVE BALUT pare hope you bring some on your country
is there any bad effects in our health if you eat too much balut? if yes please specify your answer poh. thank you so much.