Balut: A National Passion

I promised I would dedicate one blog post to the famous fetal duck egg, also known as, balut in Philipines and hon vit lon in Vietnam. Before researching on this topic, I had to tell myself several times "it's okay, it's alright, they are just eggs with hair, legs, and sometimes perhaps eyes." I plucked my courage, went on to google, typed in "balut"... it turned out there were lots of academic article about this cheap and exotic local cuisine. One of the essays, in particular, captured my attention and I found it extremely interesting.

Margaret Magat, in her well-written article, Balut: Fertilized Duck Eggs and Their Role in Filipino Culture, argues that balut is an extremely valuable nutritional resources in Southeast Asia, where alternative sources of proteins are often found lacking. In places like the Philippines, many locals cannot afford to buy luxury food, therefore, they turned to cheaper choices sold by street vendors Many balut eaters believe that eating balut, especially after work, will compensate for the energy lost during the day.

Calling balut the cheapest nutritional substitute available to Filipinos, Butch Coyoca says that one can buy balut instead of buying vitamins. "It's like a powerbar, a superfood," he said. "If you stay up late at night and it's already morning, like 2 a.m., a lot of people would eat one or two before they go to bed because they would believe that (balut) would compensate for whatever losses they incurred for not sleeping enough."

So what exactly is a balut? While normally a duck hatches after 26 to 28 days after incubation, a balut is an egg with a duck embryo aged 16 to 20 days in age. Sometimes fertilized chicken eggs are used instead, but fetal duck eggs have proved to be a more popular choice among Filipinos and Asian Americans. Eating a balut is also considered an national art. To eat a balut, first drop it into hot boiling water, then crack a hole on the shell. Sip the broth (which is the embryonic fluid of the duck), continue crack the rest of the shell, and ... eat the yolk.

Magat also mentions the notion of "machismo," a concept introduced by the Spaniards 500 years ago. According to Magat's informants, many believe that balut has sexual energizing powers:

I believe that the machismo belief is still alive and flourishing in the Philippines and is partly responsible for the belief that balut is an aphrodisiac good for men only.

Instead of Baptism, young men are to be tested in order to prove himself a real man. Under a sex culture dominated by male, Filipino males are supposed to provide pleasure to their wives or mistresses so as to prove himself a real man. Eating balut, allegedly, will "get you knees hard and the sex will last longer." Magat observes this psychological connection between food and sex in Philippines, and balut plays an extremely important part in conventional gender roles and sexual beliefs.

Because balut is often considered a symbolic symbol for fertility, it can almost be found any place where Filipinos and Chinese live. They are widely distributed around the world. In California, there are more than 1 million Filippino Americans, which makes the state a leader in balut production in the country. If you ever want to overcome a fear factor, go to any Fillipino grocery store, or visit Metzer Farm in the Salinas Valley, and I am sure they will be more than happy to show you what New York Times called "A National Passion."