Assemble the eggs in a plastic bag and put it inside the box. Store the covered eggs in a hot or dry area. The temperature must be less than 38 degrees Celsius. Repeat previous step on the 13th day and eggs that make germplasm can move to the final process of preparing Balut. Share on Facebook Share. Share on Twitter Tweet. Share on Pinterest Share. Share on LinkedIn Share. Share on Digg Share. W hat does a balut egg taste like?
Related posts:. Ever had trouble finding Japanese recipes that were easy to make? Sign up for free. In this post we'll cover: 1 How to make balut 1. Are they boiled alive? It's a nutritious snack, high in protein and calcium.
No ratings yet. Print Recipe Pin Recipe. Course Side Dish. Cuisine Filipino. Servings 4 people. Select duck or chicken eggs by tapping the eggs with your fingers to pull out cracked or thin-shelled eggs Eggs with cracks have a hollow sound while thin-shelled have a brittle sound.
These are open on both ends, 34 inches high and 21 inches in diameter; spaces around are filled with rice hulls up to 4 inches from the brim. Ideally, eggs made into balut should not be older than 5 days from the time they are laid. Remove palay when you can hold it in your hands. Eggs are then placed in the toong; these are alternated with heated palay bags. The number of heated palay bags is 1 for every egg bag. Placed 2 heated palay bags on the bottom and 2 on the top level to ensure heat conservation.
For every toong containing 10 layers of eggs, you would need 13 bags of roasted palay. Each toong can hold 10 bags. Cover with just sacks to conserve heat further. Candling is the process of holding eggs against the hole of a lighted box in a dark room to separate infertile eggs from fertile ones. Infertile eggs are called penoy; these are also boiled like balut but fetch a lower price. First, candling is done on the 11 th day after eggs are placed in toong. If you can stomach it enough to picture it, this far in the development process the embryo will have feathers and a beak.
There you have it. Balut, a delicacy that has been a staple in the Filipino culture for more than years, is an unhatched baby duck. Maybe for some, but not so much in the Philippines where other popular foods consist of Kare-Kare oxtail stew and Kaldereta, another type of meaty stew soaked in liver sauce. Those brave enough to take a balut vendor up on this Filipino delicacy will notice that the egg, when served, is warm. Balut is prepared similar to that of a hard-boiled egg except it is not cooled before serving.
Instead, the fertilized duck egg is placed in boiling water for minutes and eaten as soon as it reaches the right consistency. Perhaps that's so no one has time to think about what they're consuming and change their mind.
Typically in the Philippines, balut is seasoned with either salt, vinegar or soy sauce, however if you venture to places such as Vietnam, you'll find a different way to spice things up. Here, balut, or if you remember in Vietnam it's called hot vit lon , is seasoned with salt, pepper and Vietnamese Coriander , an herb very similar in taste to cilantro.
The seasonings come of course after the egg has been cracked and peeled open. Which one do you think would hide the fact that you're eating a fertilized duck egg more? For those with a desire to try balut, the full experience is actually a bit of a process. Nicole Ponseca is the owner of Maharlika, a Filippino restaurant in Manhattan's East Village, who gives quite a detailed breakdown of how someone would go about trying balut.
The process starts with the egg and spoon. While holding the egg in one hand you'll give the shell a few hard hits with the bottom of the spoon until it cracks open.
Once cracked, the top of the shell is removed and the broth that fills the egg is sipped to reveal two separate parts of the egg. On one side you'll see the yolk and the other the duck. Ponseca saves the duck for last, eating the whipped yolk first and taking the remainder down in one last bite. The whole process takes about a minute for someone who seemingly has done this many times before, but we're willing to bet it may take a bit longer for those trying it for the first time.
With all the parts of balut that come after the shell is cracked, it's not surprising that there would be different flavors one experiences from beginning to end. In a few different Reddit threads, the juice that comes once the egg is cracked seems to have a similar taste across the board. One member describes it as a meaty broth and the other as watery chicken broth. Part one seems pretty straight forward. After the juice, comes the egg yolk which has been described as "fluffy and creamy When it comes to the texture of the actual duck, there seems to be mixed signals.
While some say the meat is tender , dissolving in your mouth as it goes down, others beg to differ. Chef Kristine Subido remembers her distaste for balut while growing up in the Philippines. She shied away from it for more than 15 years before trying it again, saying, "there's a little bit of a crack and crunch when you're eating it.
Accordingly, this method makes use of existing data to be able to establish what is already known [ 14 ]. This was also used to provide a comprehensive understanding of the balut industry and its development in the Philippines. The data included a variety of sources including journal articles, books, published reports, and news articles.
These bodies of literature were assessed and categorized into themes that created the conceptual markers for the documentation of a cultural narrative of balut in the country.
The thematic analysis was produced through the usage of qualitative data analysis software with specific use of closed coding and axial coding processes.
The popularity of balut in most Asian cultures led to the curiosity of Western countries. Consequently, it is characterized as an aphrodisiac or a sexual stimulant [ 16 ] together with other foods that are considered exotic [ 17 ].
As a result, it has been a popular snack for men which could be considered as a contributing factor in selling balut at night time. This perspective towards the balut has crossed the mainstream media as several reality television shows, such as Fear Factor and Survivor, which are reputable for showcasing the most extreme and daring challenges, had featured balut eating challenges.
In those challenges, contestants had to eat balut under time constraints to be able to advance to the next level. The pained expression on their faces depicts a negative portrayal of balut on national television. This kind of shows presents an exaggerated one-dimensional representation of this delicacy [ 18 ]. Hence, television viewers will immediately assume that such delicacy tastes bad or is unpleasant by purely basing on how the television show presented its physical appearance.
When the balut is cracked open, one might find it disgusting to see the embryo forming see Fig. In some instances, the chick may already be showing its beak and is already growing feathers.
In most Western cultures, balut has also been considered a taboo [ 19 ], specifically because of its high fat content. The growing trend for health consciousness [ 20 ] has categorized balut and other high calorie foods as unacceptable to be eaten. The issue of balut as a taboo has also been evident in some regions in the Philippines.
Some ethnic groups like Mankayan Kankana-eys and Kalingas of Tabuk prohibit their pregnant women from eating balut as it may cause some defects to the development of the baby inside the womb [ 15 ].
Such beliefs are rampant and are practiced by people despite the lack of certainty or scientific proof. Meanwhile, it also raises ethical controversies as the egg is eaten while there is an embryo developing inside it [ 21 ].
This tackles an issue of moral consideration—whether it is acceptable or unacceptable to eat an unborn animal. Hence, these concerns likely influence the demand for balut in the market as well as its local consumption. It is traditionally being sold by street vendors during the night time until early dawn.
Vendors usually carry a basket where the eggs are carefully placed inside and covered with a cloth. It is also filled with some sand to retain its warmth until consumed. Accordingly, they are commonly seen on the corner of the streets, stalls, local markets, bus terminals, restaurants, along the pavement in front of disco bars, and other late night establishments [ 4 , 8 ].
Balut are also sold by placing them on a makeshift packaging crafted from recycled newspaper or telephone directory. This also contains a small packet of salt and vinegar that is known to enrich the taste of balut.
The attribution of balut consumption to the members of the lower economic strata of society is related to the discovery of eating uncommon foods, like balut, rooted in extreme hunger [ 23 ] and lack of proper food during World War II.
Later on, it became popular as an affordable and nutritious snack [ 25 ] that was made available and accessible to all Filipinos. It has been viewed as a good alternative source of high amounts of protein and other nutrients. Thus, it has been characterized as a mass-based snack. During the s, a significant shift from this trend occurred through the introduction of commercial duck feeds.
Along with the profitability of this business, the availability of commercial duck feeds encouraged the expansion of small-scale duck farmers into large-scale producers as well as the increase of new commercial operators.
Traditionally, duck farms establish their businesses near rivers and lakes since it provides natural food sources for ducks such as snails and shells [ 8 ]. With the introduction of commercial duck feeds, duck farmers who are geographically far from fresh bodies of water were also able to start and maintain their own farm businesses.
Subsequently, this expanded the balut industry to other provinces. In , the number of commercial duck farms had an increase of 5. Consequently, the duck farming in the Philippines may be classified into two types: small-scale or backyard and commercial. Its main point of comparison depends on the number of duck heads regardless of its breed. It is considered as commercial when the farm has more than heads of duck unless otherwise.
The duck industry in the country has also long been dominated by small-scale producers. It was estimated that about three quarters of duck egg producers are small-scale who are mainly found in rural areas [ 1 ].
The increasing demand for balut production has resulted in an increase of duck farms in the Philippines. Thus, duck farming is considered as one of the most profitable livestock industries as well as one of the major sources of livelihood among Filipinos similar to most Asian countries. In general, the Philippines dominates the duck egg production in the global market [ 3 , 28 ]. Duck farming is characterized as inexpensive and requires non-elaborate housing facilities and less space per duck head for rearing [ 29 ].
Hence, it could easily be established in a small land area or even within the backyard. As such, this industry can play a key role in alleviating poverty. The natural abundance of ducks combined with its low-cost maintenance allows even low-income communities to start up their own businesses. It provides employment and income-earning opportunities for marginal communities and rural areas [ 10 , 19 ].
Duck farming ranks second to the broiler chicken industry in the country in terms of egg production [ 10 ]. One of the reasons that the broiler industry became more advanced is primarily due to its increasing commercialization brought about by its massive demand worldwide.
In , about 2. Nonetheless, duck farming continues to thrive mainly because of its profitability and the growing demand for duck egg products and meat. It has been found out that duck farming is more profitable compared to chicken as it requires minimal costs and returns high profit. As the duck farming industry increases, there is also a direct increase in duck egg production. It was estimated that about a total of 40 thousand metric tons of eggs is being produced annually [ 24 ]. In , the total production of duck eggs accumulated to about million pesos, having a 6.
This makes up about 1. Although this is still a small portion of the poultry industry, the growing demand for balut has resulted in an increase in the number of duck farms and egg producers in the Philippines. Aside from raising ducks as a poultry industry, it is also now being promoted for the improvement of the agricultural sector. The integrated rice-duck farming system IRDFS has recently been implemented in the Philippines to increase rice productivity. This method was originally developed in Japan and has long been used in many agricultural areas in other countries.
In this system, ducks were simply placed in the rice fields where they freely roam around. In rice fields, weeds and snails are considered as pests for growing rice. Accordingly, this eliminates the need for synthetic fertilizers and chemicals [ 2 ]. Moreover, the use of ducks for rice-growing provides farmers with a supply of duck eggs that they could sell for more income. In some provinces where IRDFS is being practiced, rice productivity increased to 9 tons per hectare from the average of 4.
The implementation of IRDFS becomes a good option for an environmental, low-cost, and healthier way of growing rice and raising ducks. Furthermore, its growing popularity will further contribute to the increase of duck egg production in the country.
Pateros has been considered the capital of balut industry in the Philippines. It is a small and the only remaining municipality located in Metro Manila along with 16 cities see Fig. It is surrounded by natural bodies of water including Pateros River and Pasig River.
In the s, it was estimated that this town has about , ducks [ 22 ]. Accordingly, duck raising and egg production became a primary source of livelihood for its residents.
Primarily, it started out as a cottage industry in this town. Later on, it developed its reputation for producing high-quality duck eggs and became a primary distributor to other provinces throughout the country.
Its traditional process of balut making gained much popularity until it became a tourist attraction for Pateros [ 5 ]. In the s, balut from Pateros were characterized with the highest quality.
The balut makers were known for their careful selection of eggs. They were also able to develop a localized way of incubating eggs and processing them into products like salted egg and balut.
However, massive urbanization and pollution of the Pasig River during the s have led to the decline of duck farming in this area [ 32 ]. The town became uninhabitable for the ducks because their primary source of food was lost as the river became contaminated with harmful substances. As a result, the balut industry in Pateros has slowly been deteriorating since then.
Nonetheless, local balut makers who still want to preserve their tradition are still able to continue their businesses by gathering duck eggs from their neighboring provinces, including Bulacan, Laguna, and Nueva Ecija [ 8 ]. This allowed small-scale balut makers to gain more profit. Pateros also started its own festival called Balut sa Puti Festival to celebrate its own delicacy. This involves a cooking competition featuring balut as a main ingredient for a variety of dishes.
Locals of Pateros still believe that their traditional process of balut making is what distinguishes the quality of their balut from other producers which keeps the industry alive. The slow decline of balut industry in Pateros resulted in a sudden increase in the province of Laguna, particularly in the municipalities alongside Laguna de Bay.
The province is located on the south of Manila in the island of Luzon see Fig. Many duck raisers from Pateros have migrated to this area in the hopes of recovering their businesses. One of the main reasons that duck farming is thriving in this area is because of the abundance of snails and shells [ 1 , 8 ]. The town of Victoria which is located near the shoreline of Laguna de Bay is considered as the largest duck farming industry in the country.
It has about 55, mallard ducks that hatch about the same number of eggs at a time. Like Pateros, this town also celebrates its own Itik Festival during the second week of November. Aside from large-scale balut facilities of Laguna, it also has its own rice-duck zones in some of its towns including Sta.
Cruz, Siniloan, and San Pablo. One characteristic of the duck and duck egg industry in the province of Laguna is its varying duck-feeding practices. With the abundance of natural food sources, like snails and the availability of commercial feeds, duck raisers are able to utilize both. Accordingly, the feeds are considered as a key determinant in egg production. These aquatic foods are considered as better and more natural feeds compared to the commercial ones because they help improve the quality of the duck eggs.
The continuous increase of large-scale commercial duck farmers encourages the duck farming in other regions in the Philippines. As of , the Central Luzon is considered as the topmost duck egg-producing region in the Philippines [ 24 ] and has about an estimated 2. As regards to the total number of commercial duck farms in the country, two of its provinces, namely Bulacan and Pampanga, represent It also has the biggest duck population for commercial farms in the country.
In some provinces in Central Luzon, particularly in Nueva Ecija and Pampanga, duck farms were comparatively larger in size than those in Iloilo and Quezon [ 29 ].
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