SUCH is the chant of the magbabalut, the man who vends this pre-empted duck in a shell, scouring the neighborhood as if to announce the embryonic duck has landed. The magbabalut is ambulant, carrying as many as fifty of this tasty snack, insulated hot in a wicker basket lined with foam wrapped in cheesecloth.

But there is also a magbabalut who is stationary, situating himself in one corner of the street, with a kerosene lamp giving light to his balut transactions. He is no chanter; rather he sits quietly by the side of the street in the dark of the night, patiently waiting for the regulars.

Tucked in their balut baskets are little plastic packets of coarse salt. Balut is tastiest when salt melts in. In today’s balut basket also hang chicharon, supposedly pork cracklings, but actually sun-dried carabao skin made to puff in very hot oil. Overtime, balut and chicharon have become partners in cholesterol crime.

Balut is not for the faint-hearted. A visiting Japanese lady once dared downing the entire embryo but ended up spitting it out. A Norwegian simply did not have the guts. But a young Filipino lady who grew up in the Philippines did, showing she was a brave Filipino. But not all Filipinos eat balut. Small wonder why Fear Factor, the U.S. TV series, had on several occasions dared their contestants to take on this bizarre delight.

How to eat balut

Of course, when you get your balut from the magbabalut, it’s ready to eat. But what are the finer points of dining on what one visiting American pop singer ickily called an abortion?

Crack the pointed tip of the balut. Peel it like just like you peel an egg, to make a hole as small as a dime. Break the embryonic sac that envelops it. Sprinkle some salt or vinegar. Tip your head back and suck in the amniotic fluid …oh okay, the savory broth. Peel the egg some more till the embryo starts to show. Slurp more of the liquid till nothing drips. Generously dust with salt the combo of coagulated yolk and albumen or egg white, and the sisiw or the duck embryo now wobbly but still whole and oval. Then, gobble up the whole thing in one go.

Luck is on your side if you get the 17-day old balut sa puti, which has the springy consistency of a regular hard-boiled egg. Older than that, then the white part becomes hard as stone, the bony parts of the fowl crunch nastily between your teeth, and dark feathery bits scrape your tongue. Gross, even to grown men.

Balut origins

Anas platyrynchos is the duck that is commonly raised by duck farmers in the Philippines. Eggs laid are either processed to make balut or salted eggs.

Balut is not native to the Philippines, as stories were told of Chinese traders and migrants bringing the idea of eating this fertilized duck egg to the country. Many years later, however, Filipinos mastered the art and science of making balut, especially in Pateros, Rizal. If you check the town’s website called Anak ng Pato, it says majority of the balut-makers are concentrated in Barangay Aguho.

However, in recent times, balut-making has made its way to Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac. Some balut-makers raise their ducks in one town, and fertilize the eggs in another – expertise, economies of scale and operational costs considered.

A former duck farmer shares her story of why she left duck-raising some years back. “The cost of feeds had skyrocketed that it was not any more profitable,” she says, adding that those who have stayed must be just breaking-even, or have subsidies that help their business survive. Otherwise, she says, duck farming is a losing proposition.

And the balut-making process is so delicate, she says, that if the balut-maker doesn’t pick up the eggs for one day, you lose. “They are not anymore fit for balut. They end up as salted eggs.”

Layer ducks, as they are called, lay one egg a day for about six to eight months. As soon as the egg is laid, the embryo starts to grow. Fourteen to seventeen days later, the egg is ready to be made into balut.

Live balut can be bought in some markets at less than the cost of the cooked ones being sold by the magbabalut. Live, meaning, the egg could still turn into a duckling if nurtured well.

Where is balut?

Balut is street food. In spite of its reputation, balut is rarely or never served in restaurants, whether fine dining or even turo-turo joints or carinderias. Often, a balut vendor would frequent open-air bars to lure the drinkers—beer and balut often go together. Talk about double uric acid jeopardy. Balut, after all, is reputed to be pampagising, pampalakas ng tuhod, pampasigla, in addition to being an aphrodisiac.

A few restaurateurs have concocted creative balut dishes to delight the daring or trick the scared. Sizzling balut is typical camouflage, with a delectable sauce served on a hot plate. Adobong balut is a stew in the usual soy sauce-vinegar-garlic-pepper mixture.

The more enterprising ones have created balut products that are now franchised. Called Eggspress, the franchisor sells different kinds of egg dishes, including balut wrapped in batter and deep-fried. Their kiosks have mushroomed in many malls in Manila.

In Mandaue City, bottled balut is made by Concio Food Corporation trademarked Andoy’s Best. Bottled balut comes in 230 grams packaging and sells for P80 each online at a store called pinoydelikasi.com.

Their Balut Afritada is like your usual afritada in tangy tomato-based sauce. There is also the authentic Pateros balut made Balut Caldereta in a spicy brown caldereta sauce. And the more versatile Balut in Brine, which has a “flavorful broth and unique taste of authentic balut fresh from the shell,” that can be eaten as is, or can be used to create other special recipes such as Balut ala Pobre, Balut Adobo, and the oven-baked Balut Supreme.

Our former duck farmer says she will not wonder when balut becomes gourmet and expensive, with the costly duck-raising and the many sophisticated dishes our culinary experts have cooked up for it.