I have two eggs, the left and the right!

Never did it occur to me that I could actually find decent balut served in the US. I’ve boiled a few from local Asian supermarkets and after trying them, i’d find myself longing for my next trip back to the Philippines.

But it turns out a popular casino called “Lucky Chances” in my hometown of Daly City, CA, frequented by the local Filipinos for pai-gow and poker, has a cafe that serves balut (when it is in stock), but unfortunately it isn’t listed on the menu.

I decided to buy two at $2.30 each, which is mahal (expensive) compared to the P30 pesos ($.50) back home (my “other hometown” in Bohol, Philippines), and made a quick “how-to-eat-balut” via tweet. Or should I say quack! Ba-dum-ching! Below is my photo documentation of my own personal Filipino-American historic moment… my first delicious balut stateside.

Step 1: If you like it, put a ring on it punch a hole in it

Professional balut devourers can eat balut with the shell on while standing on their heads, but since im a beginner, i’ve decided to take the noob route by taking the rounder, softer end, and piercing a hole in it.

Step 2: Sabaw prep (time to drink!)

At this point, purist balut devourers sip the flavorful duckling soup right away, but I like to add fixins such as salt, vinegar, and pepper to feel fancy. The best thing about balut is that it is actually 2 small meals in one: a soup of the day appetizer followed by the duck main course.

Step 3: Peel, bite, sip, repeat.

Since I don’t have balut often, I decided not to slurp and devour the whole thing at once, and instead took my time to enjoy each soft bite of the yolk and the tender duckling. It was as if I was Frodo, biding his time at the very moment when he was supposed to throw the damn ring into the lava below. That pissed me off. You travel and nearly die to get rid of this ring and you spend the last 30 minutes of the movie… sorry.

As you can see that movie has left me broken. Like the eggs in this last photo.