Balut is a popular Filipino street snack and is essentially a duck egg with a fetus inside, typically between seventeen to twenty days in gestation.

Most foreigners are grossed out by the idea.

In the Philippines balut is so popular that it is equivalent to what the hot dog is in the U.S. There are balut vendors who push around carts full of fetal treats and bark their wares in a sing-song chant of “baluuuut, baluuuut!” Balut is also a popular aphrodisiac for men. But even with the good vibes and positive spin surrounding balut, the stigma attached to eating it overshadows all the warm and fuzzy aspects of this very Deep End Dining dish.


Balut is a USUAL snack for filipinos and most foreigners have the fear of eating it. Balut was oce eaten by contestants in FEAR FACTOR.

yeah i had the pleasure i seeing a friend of mine ate one of those in front of me , and i think she said it was still alive or something like that, i have to say that it look a human soup after decompostion in a duffel bag. I had to leave for a bit until she was finished.

hmmm could that be the ource of the bird flu?? someone should look into it.

Too bad hotdogs aren't considered an aphrodisiac here in the US. I'd be a sexual dynamo.

Also If you think too hard about what is in your hot dog it is just as gross, if not worse. It reminds me of the racoons in the John Candy Film The Great Outdoors.

yeah i remember that but hot dogs are made out of processed meat, unless you they are turkey dogs or actual beef dogs.

of course i missed that about the



my question is how? cause the looks sure don't help it at all, i bet they have to put alot of season just to get rid of the smell.

BLECH!!!!

Haha balut! When I was young I guess I can tolerate balut but now that I'm older I don't like it anymore. It doesn't taste that bad but some might find that it tastes funny. I like Pinoy/Penoy though. I think it's still duck egg but younger since you can't see the chick yet, only the yellow bit (yolk?).

Interesting post.

haha. i don't eat the chick (i'd rather call it that than 'fetus'), i only eat the yellow part. never really liked eating balut, but i eat the boiled duck egg (penoy). it's just like eating hard boiled eggs.

I also eat Balut but not that often. maybe I average twice a month. I like the juice and the yolk. I don't eat the chick most of the time, i give it to my sister who could eat four or five Baluts in one sitting. Eating Balut has been part of the Filipino culture, and you wouldn't be recognized as a true Filipino if you haven't eaten one.

Balut is being sold at the street mostly at night time because it doesn't look good, so you have to eat it in dimly lit place. hehehe

nah. that's taking your imagination too far. in all of asia, the philippines is the only country with ZERO cases of bird flu as of date, taking into account that it's all over the region already. and we've been eating balut since time immemorial. shouldn't you be thinking that that is why bird flu is not a health issue in the philippines? (but come to think of it, that would also be taking our imagination too far. )

anyway, i love balut! it's even becoming popular in city malls, thanks to enterprising individuals. now, more and more people are exposed to this treat -- locals and foreigners alike.

Ahh yes... Balut... I've eaten that once when I was a kid. It looked pretty scary when I ate it. It's better not to look at it when you're eating cause you just might puke if you have a weak stomache. It tastes stranger than any other food you've tasted, but I must admit that it tastes pretty good. I'm not exactly fond of it, but I'm not completely hating it either. I still feel nervous about eating it though... It's such a taboo... I only eat the soft parts and the "soup" the chick... is too hard... and it's really freaky...