Balot (not for the squeamish)

7/15
I heard about it before I even left Arizona. And I haven’t stopped hearing about since I got here. Each and every place I have been, someone has asked me if I’ve tried balot (pronounced with a long O). Everyone thinks they can trick the America into agreeing to try this Filipino delicacy before I know about it. Strangely (or stupidly) enough though, I decided to try it anyways, despite being informed by Ben at FH-US of what balot is.

Balot is duck egg. But it’s not just an egg. It’s an egg that has been incubated for 14 days so that the duck embryo is partially formed. Then it’s cooked, somewhere between hard and soft boiled, I think. You crack open the egg at the top, drink out the juices, add some salt, and eat.

Even though I’ve been hearing about balot since day one, I hadn’t actually seen it until I got here to Bacoor. Some of the church staff took me out for halo halo the first night, as it’s famous here in Cavite, and it was way better than in the chain restaurants. While we were there, some of them got balot and offered to let me try. I declined, but watched them eat, thinking hmm… it doesn’t look that bad, just like a hardboiled egg, but crunchy. Over our halo halo they asked what Filipino foods I had been eating and what I liked. At some point I dropped the phrase “I’ll try anything once” and I think my fate was sealed. “Even balot?” “Sure, even balot”

They let me slide for the night and didn’t push the point, but someone mentioned maybe my last night. So I started mentally preparing. It’s just an egg. Just don’t look at it. So last night (Saturday) being my final night here in Cavite, I agreed to try. Off Kuya Arnold went on his scooter and returned with some eggs. Pastor John dug right in but I was a little more hesitant. If you’re squeamish, I wouldn’t keep reading.

The juice was gross, but not terrible. They serve the egg warm, and it just tasted like kind of salty, very eggy water. Once I got through that step, the real problem is looking at it. Sadly, you can’t just pop it in your mouth without looking, as you have to peal the eggshell off, little by little. I’m told even many Filipinos prefer to eat it in the dark, cause it looks nasty. I tentatively added some salt and took my first bite. Kind of like egg yolk, but it definitely had some veins in it, and in general was way more crunchy than egg yolk should ever be. I had to chew it a lot of times before my body would let me swallow. I prepared for the second bite, but I could now see a lot more of the actual duck embryo. As I got my second bite in, I uncovered what were clearly a beak and a wing. There were some more crunchy things along with the second bite as well. I swallowed as quickly as I could, but peering down at a mostly complete bird, I just couldn’t do it. I think the look on my face convinced the Filipinos it wasn’t worth pressing the point, and they gladly let me throw the rest away instead of watching me throw it up.

This was graciously followed by a trip to Starbucks. It’s definitely the most American thing I’ve seen or done here, the inside was almost indistinguishable from any Starbucks in the US. Everyone agreed I had become an honorary half-Filipino, as I’d finished half my balot. And I, for my part, am completely OK with that.