My SO never dared to try it. We argued just because of that cuz he said he would try it but he did not. haha oh well, I can't force him!
shai
Full Version: Who among you have tried eating BALUT?
Who among you here have tried eating BALUT? and how was it?
My SO never dared to try it. We argued just because of that cuz he said he would try it but he did not. haha oh well, I can't force him!
shai
My SO never dared to try it. We argued just because of that cuz he said he would try it but he did not. haha oh well, I can't force him!
shai
is anybody awake already??
I don't eat balut eventhough Im a Filipina. My fiance hates eggs so I definitely won't force him to eat balut coz I have to try it 1st hahahha
QUOTE(dj1206 @ Oct 1 2007, 02:37 AM) 
I don't eat balut eventhough Im a Filipina. My fiance hates eggs so I definitely won't force him to eat balut coz I have to try it 1st hahahha
hahaha!!! that's so funny! i eat balut but only the ones with very tiny creature!
my fiance doesn't like eggs too and doesn't want to eat babies either.
it taste good! 
ive never tried balut and wont and my SO says he'll puke, or im gonna eat it and he will too... oh well, id never!! just thinking about it making me 
LOL i feel disgusted of balut now. it's so weird that i can eat one. i did not want to eat baluts before. Now i feel like... 
When in Rome........but never again
i just used to eat the "yellow" part...but after a bad experience with one, i never ate it again! Try the "downgraded" version named PENOY. It only has the yellow and white part without the chick... 
My sister was in the Philippines back in the 50s and saved a local newspaper report on balut.
Balut
How ‘Balut’ Is Made
Profitable Industry
Balut
Did you ever wonder how the ‘balut’ that you occasionally or regularly eat with such relish is prepared? If you ever bothered to find out, you would know that a ‘balut’ takes days of painstaking preparation and which involves a series of complicated processes that only a genius could have thought up or concocted.
It is not known who invented the ‘balut’ formula but after a brief excursion to a place where the delicacy is prepared, I have a lot more respect and admiration for the man who made this native delicacy a a reality---a delicacy I have hitherto taken for granted.
My research came about in this way. I had occasion one day to serve ‘balut’ to an American guest. ‘Nowhere in the world can you find this poultry delicacy except in this country,’ I told him, with an air of pride.
I bade him to watch how I ate the ‘balut’ and for him to follow suit. After carefully watching my movements, he clumsily tapped the eggshell against the table, removed the bits of broken shell and began to sip the broth. Then he removed the rest of the shell, put a dash of salt on the ‘balut’ and began to eat it.
‘Why, this tastes swell!’ he exclaimed. ‘Tell me, how do you prepare this,’ he said as he finished the egg.
‘Well, er….frankly, …. I don’t know,’ I managed to say. Was my face red!
I realized that I had long taken the ‘balut’ for granted and never bothered to know how it was prepared.
The following day, I asked my niece to accompany me and together we took a bus ride to Pasig, Rizal.
When we reached Bambang Bridge in San Joaquin, Pasig, we saw a flock of black, brown and spotted black ducks basking in the early morning sun near the bank of the river. We got down from the bus and inquired whom the owner of the ducks was. We were warmly greeted by Damaso Espiritu and his wife Leonila Tuason.
How ‘Balut’ Is Made
When we made known our intention to see for ourselves how ‘balut’ was made, they took us into the shed housing incubators. The shed was about five by three meters with roofing of nipa and wall of bamboo slats. It was very dirk inside. The only source of illumination was an electric bulb with which a helper was ‘candling’ the incubated eggs to see the living embryos.
A three-by-one wooden box was filled to the brim with roasted rice husks or ‘ipa.’ Ten bamboo baskets, which they called ‘taong’, were buried in the rice husks. Mang Damaso uncovered one of the bamboo baskets and took out a big bundle of eggs. He untied the bundle and showed us the eggs. There were about 120 eggs in the bundle.
Each of the bamboo baskets contained embryos ranging in age from one to ten days. Thus, the one-day-olds are all in the one basket, the two-day-olds in another, etc. The rice husks create and hold the correct amount of heat necessary for incubation. After one day the eggs in the first basket are moved to the second basket. After two days the eggs in the second basked are moved to the third basket, and so on until the eighteenth day. This manner of moving the eggs from basket to basket is necessary to enhance the growth of the embryo within the shell.
‘I keep an accurate incubation record by marking the shells,’ Mang Damaso said as he showed us the age of the embryo indicated on each shell.
‘After 12 days some of the eggs are removed. This is what is known as ‘penoy’. Those called ‘balut sa puti’ are not removed until after the 13th day of incubation. Those that we intend for hatching are not removed from the basket until after 20 days.’
Mang Damaso led us to another shed. There was a big table, not unlike a billiard table, which he called the ‘katre.’ The eggs are placed in the katre for from 8 to 9 days. During this time he ‘shuffles’ the eggs with his two hands every three hours much as a mahjongg player shuffles the mahjongg tiles. He has to wake up even at night to ‘shuffle’ the eggs. After 8 or 9 day the eggs are hatched.
After Mang Damaso’s entertaining and informal lecture on ‘balut’-making, his wife came to us with a tray of freshly boiled ‘balut’ and coke.
As we partook of the ‘balut’ with gusto (the fresh ‘balut’ tasted differently from the peddled ones) Aling Leonila picked up the discussion
Profitable Industry
‘I sell about 2,000 eggs daily at 15 centavos a piece to distributors and at 16 centavos to vendors. ‘Penoy’ sells for 10 centavos each. Our flock of 400 ducks supplies us with only 360 eggs daily. I have to go to other duck raisers to be able to sell 2,000 a day. I buy the fresh, unincubated eggs at 10 centavos each, so we get five to six centavos a piece for the incubated job.’
This is a big business indeed, for even a 5-centavo profit from each of the 2,000 eggs will give the owner the tidy sum of P100 daily.
The Espiritus keep their ducks in water-side pens, close to the source of their food supply—fresh water clams and snails which provide the high calcium content for the balut. This source being inadequate to feed the ducks the owners have to buy additional snails at 20 centavos a can. Some people in the neighborhood make a job of riding in bancas and scooping up the snails from the bottom of the river. A total of 400 ducks can consume 25 cans of snails a day and ¼ cavan of palay costing P7.80 a cavan. For duck feed alone, they spend P200 monthly.
‘Our hours are often long. We have to wake up even in the midst of a deep slumber to attend to the eggs. But since we are running our own business, we do not mind. ‘Balut’ has given us not only a comfortable income but more important, health and contentment,’ Mang Damaso said.
Each morning he and his wife gather the eggs from the duck houses and spread them on mats in the sun so they could have correct temperature for incubation. After about two hours of sunning, the eggs are wrapped in pieces of cloth called ‘tikbo’ and placed in the improvised incubators.
Long, drawn-out cries of ‘balut’ are one of the most familiar sounds on the streets of many Philippine towns and cities. ‘Balut’ with beer is as truly native as ‘mangga and suman’.
But the Espiritus expressed alarm over the increasing competition offered by the Chinese who have learned the secrets of the trade and are beginning little by little to take over the business from the hands of Filipinos.
Reflecting afterwards on this fear, it occurred to us that the best justification for the clamor on nationalization is the protection of truly native industries, like ‘balut’-making. Certainly, we have every right to demand protection for something that is truly our own, the product of our own native ingenuity!
Cracked the shell, closed my eyes and bottoms up. Then washed it down with a coke. Only because I wanted to say I did it.
QUOTE(trey @ Oct 1 2007, 08:00 AM)
Cracked the shell, closed my eyes and bottoms up. Then washed it down with a coke. Only because I wanted to say I did it.
Coke
I used San Miguel and did five of em Same reason for me too
I eat balut when I was in the PI. It taste good. 
hehehe!
But my husband said..he will not dare to eat it:D
hehehe!But my husband said..he will not dare to eat it:D
We are having a multi-cultural pot luck next month at my work so I think I will go to the little Filipino store we found and get some balut! There are quite a few Filipinos working in our building
Dili ko on the Balut. sorry, lol. no way i try that. Fortunately my fiance understood my resistance to trying that and never offered it.
Chris
Chris
Ok.....I know I haven't eaten it; but help me out here cause I am nosy.....WHAT IS IT?
QUOTE(Jomo @ Oct 1 2007, 11:10 AM)
Ok.....I know I haven't eaten it; but help me out here cause I am nosy.....WHAT IS IT?
Balut is a filipino delicacy, its a boiled duck's embryo (egg with chick inside), the chick inside varies from 15 to 21 days old. I only eat the 15 days old i cant handle the 21 days old
While in Cebu a friend of my fiancée suggested I try balut, he said “it will make your knees strong” when my fiancée explained the meaning to me I laughed to myself and said thank you Pfizer!! (if you don’t know you better ask somebody )
)
im a filipina but never eat balut too lol kinda creepy to look at the embryo... my friend could eat 4 straight in one setting ... they say its a good aphrodisiac 
so might worth a try for some... lol...
lol kinda creepy to look at the embryo... my friend could eat 4 straight in one setting ... they say its a good aphrodisiac so might worth a try for some... lol...
I haven't but would be very willing to try one.
It was one of two things my wife couldn't get me to eat when I was in Davao. the other was Durian.
Well , I must be the only one who is different then I LIKE BALUT! There is time that I only eat balut as my supper and I ate 5 to 6 balut in one seating.
When Im pregnant with Robin all I eat is balut balut balut!!... gulp it down with cold coke.....ahhh I'm happy with that! for me it is yummy!
I did try ask Gary to eat balut and he did but it never happen again..poor thing!He didn't like it the same way I don't like celery!!
I miss balut!!!!!
I LIKE BALUT! There is time that I only eat balut as my supper and I ate 5 to 6 balut in one seating.When Im pregnant with Robin all I eat is balut balut balut!!... gulp it down with cold coke.....ahhh I'm happy with that! for me it is yummy!
I did try ask Gary to eat balut and he did but it never happen again..poor thing!He didn't like it the same way I don't like celery!!
I miss balut!!!!!
Everyone in the family loves balut but not me. Can someone tell me what's the difference between BALUT from PENOY?
QUOTE(RandyandRina @ Oct 1 2007, 01:50 PM)
Everyone in the family loves balut but not me. Can someone tell me what's the difference between BALUT from PENOY?
the penoy has the duck embryo removed.
and i didnt eat the durian either just for the record.
Chris
Balut is said to be an excellent aphrodisiac.
Only problem is I have to get drunk to eat balut and I pass out right after I'm drunk enuf to eat it.
Only problem is I have to get drunk to eat balut and I pass out right after I'm drunk enuf to eat it.
I had to try it just so I could say I did but never again
I enjoyed balut within 24 hours of arriving in Manila. Meryll bought me another delicacy at the same time, but I do not remember what is was called. 
I think it was pickled!!
I think it was pickled!!
QUOTE(edp333 @ Oct 1 2007, 05:34 PM)
I enjoyed balut within 24 hours of arriving in Manila. Meryll bought me another delicacy at the same time, but I do not remember what is was called. I think it was pickled!!
I think it was pickled!!Probably "pickled parrot pecker". They call it "loro baras".
Not yet, but when I go to get Annie.. A man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do...
lol, All her cousins keep telling me Balut makes you strong, helps make the baby, you need to eat balut.
lol, All her cousins keep telling me Balut makes you strong, helps make the baby, you need to eat balut.
QUOTE(KansasDragon @ Oct 2 2007, 04:54 AM)
Not yet, but when I go to get Annie.. A man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do...
lol, All her cousins keep telling me Balut makes you strong, helps make the baby, you need to eat balut.
lol, All her cousins keep telling me Balut makes you strong, helps make the baby, you need to eat balut.
Just gobble that egg down....num num
I was introduced to Balut in 1990 when I made my first visit to PI. Being the fine southern boy that I am, I took it as a challenge. I swallowed my 1st one and found it was not so bad. At least it was cooked! If you can eat fresh oysters you can eat Balut.
QUOTE(RandyandRina @ Oct 1 2007, 04:50 PM)
Everyone in the family loves balut but not me. Can someone tell me what's the difference between BALUT from PENOY?
Penoy is a "kind" of balut. The embryo has not turned into a chick yet. If you read the article about how Balut is made you will see that the Penoy is a duck's egg that has been incubated for 12 days.
and no....I have not (and don't think I ever will) try Balut.
So, my husband was relieved that I didn't "force" him to try it.
So, my husband was relieved that I didn't "force" him to try it.
I DID
My husband tried eating Balut the last time he had his vacation in the Philippines and I asked him tonight if he will eat it again....
He said he will because he likes it
He said he will because he likes it
QUOTE(Paulily @ Oct 2 2007, 05:19 PM)
My husband tried eating Balut the last time he had his vacation in the Philippines and I asked him tonight if he will eat it again....
He said he will because he likes it
He said he will because he likes it
It tasted like a hard-boiled egg to me, it was just the image of that little duck
Is the embryo crunchy?
QUOTE(Jenn! @ Oct 2 2007, 06:03 PM)
Is the embryo crunchy?
I didn't seem so to me but I did drink several San Miguels before I ate it
QUOTE(jasman0717 @ Oct 2 2007, 09:10 PM)
QUOTE(Jenn! @ Oct 2 2007, 06:03 PM)
Is the embryo crunchy?
I didn't seem so to me but I did drink several San Miguels before I ate it
I didn't find it any different from a hard boiled egg, I found it to be a wonderful experience
I'm the man I eat almost all filipino foods except shrimp paste....yucky I can't even kiss my wife after she had that
QUOTE(Paulily @ Oct 2 2007, 06:18 PM)
QUOTE(jasman0717 @ Oct 2 2007, 09:10 PM)
QUOTE(Jenn! @ Oct 2 2007, 06:03 PM)
Is the embryo crunchy?
I didn't seem so to me but I did drink several San Miguels before I ate it
I didn't find it any different from a hard boiled egg, I found it to be a wonderful experience
I'm the man I eat almost all filipino foods except shrimp paste....yucky I can't even kiss my wife after she had that My friend's wife was feeding it to me and I thought it was just like a hard-boiled egg but then when I saw that little duck my stomach got a bit upset but I ate all five
QUOTE(Jenn! @ Oct 2 2007, 09:03 PM)
Is the embryo crunchy?
A little bit because of the skull and beak
Just dont look after you open the shell, drink the juice and peel it and pop it in in your mouth
QUOTE(jasman0717 @ Oct 2 2007, 09:19 PM)
QUOTE(Paulily @ Oct 2 2007, 06:18 PM)
QUOTE(jasman0717 @ Oct 2 2007, 09:10 PM)
QUOTE(Jenn! @ Oct 2 2007, 06:03 PM)
Is the embryo crunchy?
I didn't seem so to me but I did drink several San Miguels before I ate it
I didn't find it any different from a hard boiled egg, I found it to be a wonderful experience
I'm the man I eat almost all filipino foods except shrimp paste....yucky I can't even kiss my wife after she had that My friend's wife was feeding it to me and I thought it was just like a hard-boiled egg but then when I saw that little duck my stomach got a bit upset but I ate all five
Wow five
My tatay (father) used to tell us that we're not true "pinoys" if we don't eat balut. One time, I saw the Cojuanco sister's (Mikee, China, Maimai) cooking adobong balut on tv and telling everyone that "balut" is a favorite at the Cojuangco residence I said to myself if these filipino royalty eat it why can't I?
I only tried the yellow part I actually love it. When my husband visited me my brother-in-law brought him 6 baluts and my ever polite husband ate 4 with a bottle of san mig (tho' he's never drink alcohol in 20 yrs). He actually said it taste good.
I only tried the yellow part I actually love it. When my husband visited me my brother-in-law brought him 6 baluts and my ever polite husband ate 4 with a bottle of san mig (tho' he's never drink alcohol in 20 yrs). He actually said it taste good.
My wife always told me she wouldn't eat balut, only pinoy. On my second trip there the opportunity presented itself one evening. We were sitting on her uncle's porch drinking SMB and along came a man selling balut. I had drank at least 6 SMB by that time and told her uncle, "we gotta try some balut!". I said, Jena and I have never tried it! Her uncle said YES we must have some and we bought enough for everyone. I ate the entire thing and remember it was quite hard like it was cooked too long but the taste was good. I later found out that Jena didn't really eat the chick, only some of the egg around it. grrrr she fooled me! LOL
I also tried durian at her lola's but neither Jena nor I enjoy it.
I found a funny thing about San Miguel. You have to be carefull how you order it or they will give you SML (San Miguel light). I always drank SMB (San Miguel Beer). They charged an extra 10P for light at the hotel we stayed at near Subic Bay. If I wasn't very careful I wound up getting the light version.
Funny how they use the abbreviation for everything in Phils. My wife says BF for boyfriend and GF for girlfriend. Thats just a couple, she has many many abbreviations she actually says outloud instead of the words.
Kevin
I also tried durian at her lola's but neither Jena nor I enjoy it.
I found a funny thing about San Miguel. You have to be carefull how you order it or they will give you SML (San Miguel light). I always drank SMB (San Miguel Beer). They charged an extra 10P for light at the hotel we stayed at near Subic Bay. If I wasn't very careful I wound up getting the light version.
Funny how they use the abbreviation for everything in Phils. My wife says BF for boyfriend and GF for girlfriend. Thats just a couple, she has many many abbreviations she actually says outloud instead of the words.
Kevin
my dad is american and they have pretty much the same thing in vietnam. the serve it in a clear tall glass??so I kinda wasnt shocked when I heard my hubby talking about how great it is LOL! anyway I never tried.......................maybe some day. hehehe
I was going to try it the last time I was there but forgot! I will definitely try it the next time I am there.
QUOTE(Paulily @ Oct 2 2007, 06:25 PM)
QUOTE(jasman0717 @ Oct 2 2007, 09:19 PM)
QUOTE(Paulily @ Oct 2 2007, 06:18 PM)
QUOTE(jasman0717 @ Oct 2 2007, 09:10 PM)
QUOTE(Jenn! @ Oct 2 2007, 06:03 PM)
Is the embryo crunchy?
I didn't seem so to me but I did drink several San Miguels before I ate it
I didn't find it any different from a hard boiled egg, I found it to be a wonderful experience
I'm the man I eat almost all filipino foods except shrimp paste....yucky I can't even kiss my wife after she had that My friend's wife was feeding it to me and I thought it was just like a hard-boiled egg but then when I saw that little duck my stomach got a bit upset but I ate all five
Wow five
My wife's friend fed them to me so I just kept eating........and drinking SM
well, i dont eat balut even if i'm a filipino....when bobby was here, i asked if he would like to try, BUT...just the smell of it made him YUCKKK!!!! so i didn't force him na.... 
well, i dont eat balut even if i'm a filipino....when bobby was here, i asked if he would like to try, BUT...just the smell of it made him YUCKKK!!!! so i didn't force him na....
so i didn't force him na.... well, i dont eat balut even if i'm a filipino....when bobby was here, i asked if he would like to try, BUT...just the smell of it made him YUCKKK!!!!
so i didn't force him na....
QUOTE(meant4bobby @ Oct 3 2007, 07:39 PM)
well, i dont eat balut even if i'm a filipino....when bobby was here, i asked if he would like to try, BUT...just the smell of it made him YUCKKK!!!! so i didn't force him na....
so i didn't force him na.... Where's the adventure
Doesn't sound like something I want to try
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