Balut-ers

It’s time now for extreme food challenge. Based on Wikipedia, a balut is a fertilized duck embryo that is boiled alive and eaten in the shell. Popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high protein, hearty snack, balut are mostly sold by street vendors in the Philippines.  

A Balut

We accepted this challenge from our Filipino colleagues after a nice dinner in the camp. Oh boy…. You could certainly see the (almost) feet and bones, beak and claws, hair and feathers, eyes and intestines. I started to feel the stomach-turning as well as the amusement, just like the participants of Amazing Race Asia. Abet, our Filipino pal, showed us the steps. First of all, you have to crack the skin, just like you eat the regular egg. Then, open the thin layer to get the juice which tastes like chicken stock. Vinegar with chili and salt could be added to the juice. Afterwards, munch the balut… and this is the hardest part because you could see the eyes were staring at you :) 

Anyway, six of us passed with flying colors, because we still whispered in the end, “Isa pa nga…..” and got the certificate :) Also.... the record breaker was Rafiq who ate 4 baluts (not sure how high the cholesterol was, hahahahaha). Thank you for our great friends in the Philippines. We will certainly remember the night for years to come.

Cheerful Group after baluting