Balut: You want 12 day, 16 day, or 18 day?

Cebu, Philippines.

I've done the edible egg embryo before in other countries, but I've always wanted to try it in the Philippines. I first heard of this popular snack from perhaps a National Geographic article on the Philippines, and for years I wondered if I could stomach them. I have several times now.

They're duck embryos, but there was a rumor going around today in Cebu that a vendor had been spotted selling "chicken balut", which my acquaintences agreed was a silly idea and just didn't taste as good as the duck ones. I can't be sure; we didn't see him tonight.



As I said before, when I ate them in Cambodia, I actually quite liked them and it's probably my favorite tasting weird meat. I haven't tried them side-by-side, of course, but the Philippine balut resembled the Cambodian ones in every respect I can recall.

First you choose between 12 day, 16 day, and 18 day. The 12 day ones are just hard-boiled eggs with no embryonic development. The 16 day ones are further along but concensus was that these are just inferior to the king of balut -- exactly 18 days after being laid.



After you choose what kind you want, the vendor grabs them piping hot from the basket and passes you a little stool, salt, and a vinegar-onion sauce. You hold the hot egg and flick carefully but forcefully at the top of it with your middle finger. It cracks a bit and you gently remove a small hole from the top, so you can sip the savory broth before removing the whole shell. I agree that the 18-day one is better than the younger ones. You might come across some small chunkies but it's usually just eaten all the way through, in about 3 mouthful bites. You can see feathers, head, wings, and skeleton forming, but it's basically an extra-chewy easter egg. The flavor is savory and delicious; the texture satisfying. Match with a light pilsner beer.



If you're in Cebu City looking for the balut, I got mine from a street vendor at Fuente Osmena circle. He was really helpful and knowledgable, and proud of his product. The cool thing about traveling in the Philippines is that most everyone speaks English, so don't be shy to ask questions.
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Addition: Found more info on balut. The eggs are from the "itik duck" which is native to the Philippines. Itik mother ducks are lazy so humans have to incubate them after the mother ignores them. That explains a lot. More info here.

Chicken or Egg ?

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I thought I'd have to go to the Philippines for this one. It's actually been on the top of my "must eat it!" list for years. But lucky me! I found it last night, right around the corner from the Foreign Correspondents building in Phnom Penh. A nice lady with a cart had them.



Here's the deal: They take duck eggs in which the embryo has begun to form in to a real live chick, and hard boil them. Good with salt, pepper and lime. I bought two, one for my father, who insisted he was full from the salad he had for dinner (wimp!). Anyway, I got the whole thing on video.

You peel the egg shell off and inside is a duck egg (about 2-3 times as big as a normal chicken egg) and the egg is surrounded by blood vessels, and you can see the early form of a duck baby within the white of the egg. The yolk is still separate. The first bite had a crunchy surprise in the middle, which clearly resembled a beek and duck head. You can see the formation of feathers throughout the egg. Anyway, the whole treat had a pleasant savory flavor and denser texture than conventional hard-boiled eggs. I'm going to pick up a couple more for our road trip south today.

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OK, I've tried a few more now and found that they're available at different stages of embryonic development. You can get them younger (more like an egg), older (almost hatched), or anywhere in between. All are delicious. Although this one sounds probably the most "weird" of all weird meats, it's one of the most tasty. This is a popular snack food, with locals eating it while watching TV sports, picnicking, or as an appetizer to a full meal.

In the Philipines they call them balut eggs. Actually, I'll soon travel to Nanjing, China, where chicken abortions are a local specialty.