20 Aug New Yorkers from Business Insider Tried Eating Balut! Watch Their Reactions About this Famous Filipino Food!
Sydney Kramer, Operations Coordinator of Business Insider tried eating balut. In Manhattan, New York there is this one store who sells the ‘strangest foods’ in New York as they call it. Kramer initially describes the balut as a “regular hard boiled egg but there’s more to it that meets the eye.”
Nicole Ponseca, owner of Maharlika explained what a balut is. Nicole said “Balut, which is a fertilized duckling and I know in the Philippines, it is a great source of protein.”
Sydney clarified that inside the balut “there is a fertilized duck embryo, in here. A baby, a very delicious baby.” She then asked Nicole how to eat it.
Nicole taught the steps on how to eat it. As she spoke, “First things first is with a duck egg, you wanna found out what side is, what they call fat ground side. You’ll find a … there’s gonna be the layer of the egg yolk, then you’ll have the duck, sometimes you’ll see bones, the structure of the face. And then, as it gets older and older, you’ll have quack quack, the feathers and the whole thing. And then the bottom part is usually the egg white. Usually we don’t usually eat it, it almost like a texture of a pencil eraser.”
Nicole then showed how to open it. First, they cracked the egg shell with a spoon, Sydney then reacted, “hmm, fertilized duck egg, also known as Philippines Viagra.” They then slurped the soup inside. Sydney even said ”Cheers!”, then complemented that it is good, it almost taste like an egg but it definitely taste like a strong chicken sack.
After opening it, they could see the egg yolk separated and the duck. They started tasting the egg yolk first and Sydney said, “It’s really good, it tasted like custard.” Nicole agreed that it really tasted like custard.
And the most interesting part, the duck. Sydney ate the duck and stated, “Yeah, just like liver.” Watch their video here:
It is quite amusing to see other nationalities try this popular Filipino delicacy. Slowly our foods are getting attention from different parts of the world. There are also other Asian countries who also practice eating and making balut such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. One tip though when eating a balut, eat it in the dark so you can’t see the ‘fetus’ as you indulge in it. And to enjoy it more, put in some salt, indulge, then sip some vinegar, it would be so satisfying. Cagayan de Oro, balut is widely available in the streets of Velez near Divisoria and Cogon. It is a famous street food that sells like hot pancakes especially in the evening.
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