Just What is Balut? The Controversial Philippine Street Food
And yes, I tried it
I once ate a raw chicken egg at a party on a dare.
While thoughts of Rocky Balboa went through my bravado’d head, I couldn’t help but notice my friend start gagging. As I stood there contemplating the flavor and wondering if I’d get a nice kick of Salmonella, my friend ran off to the washroom to puke.
Years later, I couldn’t help but wonder what he’d do if he watched me eat a balut.
What is balut?
If the idea of cracking open and sucking down an egg is disgusting to you, you might not want to read further. Because imagine instead of seeing a juicy orange bulb surrounded by gelled liquid after cracking the shell, you saw the tiny remains of a hard-boiled duck fetus.
Because that’s precisely what balut is.
Balut is a fertilized egg that’s usually incubated between 14 to 21 days, then hard-boiled in a similar fashion to your everyday chicken eggs.
The history of balut
Historians think balut originally came from Chinese traders who worked in the Philippines in either the 16th century or the 19th. It’s likely an offshoot of an equally disturbing (to some) dish called maodan (毛蛋 or máo dàn).
