What Is Balut, and How Do You Eat It?

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 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 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 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

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. 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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