Balut: Fertilized duck eggs and their role in filipino culture

Western Folklore, Spring 2002 by Magat, Margaret

According to the 2000 census, Filipino Americans number close to 1 million in California, the second biggest Asian group in the U.S., second to the Chinese Americans. Not surprisingly, the state is a leader in balut production. During the course of my fieldwork for my master's thesis, from which this article is derived, I visited Metzer Farms, which supplies an estimated fifty percent of the balut sold in the Bay Area. The farm also sells balut to other immigrant groups such as the Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, and Chinese. In addition, Thais, Malays and Indonesians are known to eat it. Based on the closest Thai transliteration, balut is called khaj luuk or khay luuk (same in Laotian). For Cambodians, the closest transliteration in the Khmer language that refers to embryonic eggs is pomtiakhong or pomtiakong. Another spelling based on the sound of the word is poomgpiakoong.

WHAT IS BALUT?

Fertilized duck eggs sold as balut in the U.S. range from 16 to 20 days in age. The older the egg, the larger the chick and the more pronounced its feathers, bones, and beak. An embryo at 17 days has beak and feathers which are more developed at 20 days. Normally, after being fertilized, a chick hatches after 26 to 28 days of incubation.

The taste of the egg also depends on the breed of the laying duck. Different breeds of ducks supposedly produce balut varying in taste, with Muscovy ducks being hailed by some as the "cream of the crop" (Freeman 1996:53). The kind of balut sold in the U.S. is made from duck eggs. Chicken eggs may be made into balut as well, but duck eggs are preferred by the majority of Filipino Americans since they are larger and thought to be better in taste.

But whether the fertilized egg is chicken or duck, there are two types of balut. One is called mamatong by Filipinos. Mamatong balut has the embryo floating on top of the white and yolk and the consumer can easily detect it. Roughly translated to mean "the float," mamatong occurs between 14 to 16 days. The second is balut sa puti where the embryo is wrapped by a thin, whitish membrane and one cannot tell whether there is an embryo or not. In balut sa puti, the embryo is hidden by the albumen's white film. Balut sa puti is 17 to 18 days old and it is the preferred favorite of Filipinos in the U.S. and in the Philippines. A folk belief in the Philippines lets people know if an egg has developed into mamatong or balut sa puti. One takes a balut egg and drops it in water. If it floats, it is mamatong, but if it sinks, it is balut sa puti.

Just how good and fresh a balut is after it has been boiled can be determined by its broth, called "soup" by balut eaters. After cracking a hole in the wide part of the shell, the consumer usually sips the broth before he or she eats any part of the tiny chick and remaining yolk. If the balut is good, its soup has a sweet, clean taste. Fresh balut can be good for ten days to two weeks. Cooked balut if stored in the refrigerator will last for as long as a month. But the longer the balut is in the refrigerator, the more likely that its liquid will be dried out.