PHILIPPINES

Balut – not for the squeamish! 

Delicious, appetizing, yummy, mouth-watering, delightful… and then, there is ‘balut’.

Any Filipino street food junkie will tell you that the spheroid-shaped egg commonly known as ‘balut’ is guaranteed not only to give you more energy to last you through the day (or night), but it is also an aphrodisiac that is certain to put a spark in your lackluster love life. That is, if you can get past eating a duck embryo – feathers, bones and all. 

‘Balut’ is an incubated 17 to 18-day old egg of a mallard duck whose manufacturing process involves mastering the skills of incubating the egg with mud and rice husks and using the right temperature to transform it into a perfect gastronomic delicacy when boiled. It is best eaten with a pinch of salt and a bottle of beer to kick it up a notch.

Balut originated from Pateros, a small town located in the northwestern part of Metro Manila. The word ‘pateros’ is derived from the Tagalog word ‘pato’, the mallard duck that lays the eggs for the balut, and ‘sapatero’, which means shoemaker. We organise tours which bring you to a small town in the suburbs of Metro Manila where you will discover how a balut is made the traditional way and get to taste it – minus the squirm and the grimace. Balut is not for the squeamish, but for the fearlessly adventurous.