Worldly Quirks

Hey Everyone! It’s time for Quirks Around the World, and this time I am taking you to my home country, the Philippines. Filipinos have really weird but yummy stuff to eat. I think we are the only people who will be able to survive on anything, because we Filipinos just about eat anything, as long as it’s not poisonous.Well, I’m not saying I can eat anything, I’m saying most of my people can, I still have a hard time eating some animal innards, but in time maybe I’ll get over it.

One of the most popular street food that we have here in the Philippines that most tourists make sure to get a taste of is the Balut egg. I’m sure you’ve seen it on the Amazing Race (US and Asia) and on Fear Factor.

For those of you who don’t know what a Balut egg is, well, it’s a fertilized duck egg, boiled and eaten on the shell. Balut is sold on probably every street corner here in the Philippines and you can be sure you can get a hold of these 24/7. Balut is high in protein and is considered as an aphrodisiac. Ever notice how most exotic food are considered to be aphrodisiacs? Hmm…

Anyway, we usually eat Balut with some salt for taste (for me, the salt helps me swallow the chick, if I do decide to eat it.), vinegar or chili. You can pretty much use whatever spice you want on a Balut because it is virtually tasteless when you eat it plain. Balut is a great beer match.

 I am told that Balut is not exclusive to the Philippines, Vietnam also have their version and the difference lies on how many days old the fertilized egg is considered ready. In the Philippines, ideally, a Balut is best when it is17 days old, that’s when the chick has no feathers yet and the bones and beak are not fully formed. However in Vietnam, they like it over 18 days old, when the beak and bones are formed and the feathers are visible. I don’t know about you but I really don’t want to see the chick that much developed!

Anyway, here’s my personal neat (you know I am a bit O.C. and avoid mess as much as possible, but you can go on ahead and eat it your own way) step by step guide on how to eat Balut, just in case you want to try it:

1.  Crack the top of the egg gently, peel the top part of the egg first, carefully, you don’t want to break it and end up making a mess.

2. Add a little salt and then sip the juice/soup of the Balut egg.

3. When you are sure there’s no more juice/soup left, peel it some more, but do it gently, we don’t want to make a mess.

4. Put some more salt, add vinegar or whatever condiment you like, hot sauce perhaps? Now, eat the yellow part, or the yolk or the chick, whichever you want first, personally, I mix the chick with the yellow part so I don’t gag.

5. Don’t eat the white, hard part. And you are done!

Congratulations you have successfully eaten a Balut egg without creating any unnecessary mess!

So how about it? Balut anyone?

Worldly Quirks thanks her First Commenter with linky love
Thank You for gracing me with your presence

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