I was informed after my other entry that I hadn’t actually tried balut. I was given some ideas on where to actually find it and sure enough - I did.

I went to one of the local Filipino supermarket with the intent of buying balut to cook at home. On entering, there was a snack bar area that was selling various hot snacks. I noticed some eggs and saw that they were Balut. I purchased some!

I sat in the food court and got some attention. I drew the attention of a table of older Filipino ladies who were surprised that I was trying it. They offered suggestions (don’t look at it, put vinegar and salt on it).

I cracked the top (not possible with plastic utensils) and pealed the top of the shell.

I’m pretty sure I got the right thing this time. It smelled like chicken to me.

There were four flavor sections I noticed.

1. The ‘juice’. This was nice, pretty much chicken broth. I slurped it and it was good.

2. The white part. I did not like this part. I expected it to be like the white of a boiled egg. Some of that flavor was there but the texture was hard and chewy. Like trying to chew on a chunk of rubber.

3. Yolk-like. Honestly, I think this was just egg yolk. Tasted like egg yolk, texture of egg yolk.

4. The chick. At the bottom was a small chick, barely recognizable. I think the balut I got was relatively immature, I expected a larger one. The ladies told me to eat it whole and I did. Tasted like chicken.

When I was done, I told the ladies that I liked it. They informed me it would make me strong.

At the end of the day, it was a good experience. Not worth the bar-bet attitude that many were applying to the meal.