What Is Balut, and How Do You Eat It?

Balut is a street food delicacy found in Southeastern Asia -- and around the world. Learn about this eggy treat in today's episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain
Stuff Lauren Vogel Bomb. Here around the world, street food
provides nutrition, sometimes, entertainment usually and Instagram opportunities increasingly on
the go from fresh cut fruit to dirty water dogs
to rhody to surf fried noodles to deep fried everything

(00:22):
two pretzels to kebab of all kinds, but nothing is
quite like ballot translating to rap into Galic and Malay,
balut is a partially developed bird embryo, typically a duck
that's incubated for anywhere from fourteen to twenty one days
before it's boiled or steamed and eaten at around one

(00:43):
eight eight calories each with approximately fourteen grams of protein.
This delicacy is a staple at roadside markets in Southeast Asia.
Although many of us around the world eat unfertilized eggs,
the idea of eating one that's been fertilized and this
contains and albeit very early stage developing duck inside it
can seem a bit well odd, but balut is widely

(01:04):
considered a celebrated staple in countries like Vietnam and the Philippines.
It's also purported to be an aphrodisiac, though historically speaking,
pretty much everything has been at some point. Seriously, my
other show is a food show, and the only thing
we found that's definitely not has been lettuce. But anyway, baloot.
How and where did balot get its start? It all

(01:26):
begins in China. Balut was first introduced from China to
the Philippines in five where it quickly became a cheap
and easy snack for laborers from their Filipino immigrants took
balut with them wherever they immigrated, and it caught on
in countries like Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. In the Philippines,
balut is everywhere. It's often eaten as a late night snack.

(01:48):
Street vendors hawking the dish open as the sun goes down,
and it's common to hear them shouting out balot to
people walking by. The dish. Comes with some amount of controversy.
It's forbidden by some religious practice is like Islam and
Judaism that plays restrictions on what animals can be eaten
and how they can be slaughtered. Additionally, some countries like
Canada count balot as a health risk, as quote incubators

(02:11):
are conducive to the potential growth of salmonella, though the
same thing can be said about eating raw cookie dough
or even eggs benedict. However, unlike most controversial foods, the
stigma surrounding balot is one that should be taken with
a grain of salt. We spoke via email with food
and travel host and journalist Christie Hung. She's a self
described Balot fan who's eaten the fertilized duck egg at

(02:34):
home and on the side of the road in various
places all over Asia. She said, I mean, the dish
can be daunting to try, but every culture has their
own so called weird dish that's an acquired taste. For many.
Scots have haggis, Swedes have stir strumming, the Chinese have Durian,
and Japanese have nato. It's an excellent point. So how

(02:55):
does one eat balot and more importantly, what the heck
does it taste like? How suggests that all you really
need is a pinch of salt and a couple of herbs.
Balut is prepared sort of like a hard boiled egg.
The fertilized egg is cooked in boiling water for about
twenty to thirty minutes and you eat it while it's
still warm. If you want to consume it the typical

(03:15):
Filipino way, you crack the shell of the egg and
peel a small hole in the inner membrane, then sip
the warm fluid inside. Finally season the solid goods remaining
with salt and vinegar, then peel and eat. But Hang
explains that there's really no right or wrong way to
eat balut, and she says she knows plenty of people
who eat it with chili pasteore vinegar. The only thing

(03:36):
you really want to avoid is bellut that's too old,
as in the embryo inside is too old. So it's
basically a duck that she says, can taste and I
quote life ruining. Hang said, if you find a proper
place that prepares it, then it should taste like a moose.
The ballot itself should be mild. The yolk portion should
taste rich and creamy. The broth portion should taste like

(03:59):
an extremely rich chicken or duck soup. If it's undercooked
or if the ballot is too old that it can
taste fishy or crunchy, that's not what you want. Incubation
timing is indeed key for Ballut, and seventeen days of
incubation is the sweet spot. Eggs aged just to that
point should be boneless, taste like poultry, and have a

(04:20):
smooth texture like moose. As Hang said, Ballut that age
longer could have beaks, bones, and even feathers, which are
all still edible, but maybe not what you're looking for.
And if you're not in Southeast Asia, never fear, you
don't have to travel too far to try this. Dish
cities across the United States now boast any number of
spots serving it. Today's episode was written by Jeremy Glass

(04:47):
and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production
of iHeart Radio's has Tough Works. For more on this
and lots of other curious topics, is that our home planet,
how stuff works dot com, And for more podcasts from
my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or ever you listen to your favorite shows. M