
Try Balut (Fertilized Egg)
π Philippinesπ Repeatableπ€ 13+
food-and-drinkadventureculturalextreme
Challenge your culinary boundaries with this Filipino street food of a partially developed duck embryo boiled and eaten from the shell. Traditionally eaten with salt, pepper, and vinegar, balut is best consumed in one or two bites to get past the psychological barrier. The flavor is reportedly rich and chicken-like, making it more about mental fortitude than taste.
Difficulty
45/100Medium
π°
Cost
$3 β $8
β±
Time
15min
π₯
People
1+
π
Setting
either
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Season
any
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Equipment
None needed
People who tried this
βA friend accompanied me to Fuente Osmena circle in Cebu around 2am to search for a balut vendor that was free from customers as we wanted to document the event since it was going to be my first time to eat balut. [...] Just the thought of having to eat something that looks like a fetus is already enough for me to consider this an extreme partaking. [...] The vendor helped me out and took his time to share tips. βDonβt overthink, just open and eat!β β so easy to say, the chickβs eyes werenβt staring at him! But before I got squeamish and all, I obeyed. So I finally ate balut. I realized it wasnβt that as bad as I thought; though it took me some time to swallow it all. Probably because I ate it hurriedly. Still, itβs actually tasty and the condiments made a lot of difference to augment the taste.β
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