I Just Tried Balut for the First Time

So I just tried Balut for the first time. I go out of my way to try weird foods, but wow, the texture is just horrendous. It tastes like a hard boiled egg that's gone slightly bad and there was a slight funky crunch in the middle. Probably a first and last attempt for me.

What the hell is wrong with you.

You are a brave, brave person.

You put that in your mouth. Good on ya for at least trying it once. I don't think I could ever do it.

That's goddamn horrific!

That picture is a really old balut. The one I tried hadn't been fertilized long. It looked like a hard boiled egg with some brown and veins. And a couple partially formed bones in the middle.

Oh dear god why

I rarely say this, but gross

You know the saying "ignorance is bliss"?

No more bliss...

Christ.

Balut taste good to me. I've tried both duck and chicken varieties. I find the texture to be fine. The liquid in it helps with that.

Duck is better. Or was it chicken?

And that picture looks horrible to me. That's not what it usually looks like, though it's not much better.

Now comes your second test ... .

But, yeah, I can understand trying it once, but I can't support eating balut. I won't eat veal or foie gras either. I'm all for eating meat but only if the animal has had the opportunity to live a decent life.

Well, I guess if we don't hear from you for a while, we'll know why.

uhhh...

Oh, I had that all the time as a kid (I am from a Southeast Asian family). Only ever ate the egg part, because, yeah, I'm with ya'll, wtf.

I'd love to try that, actually. I already eat eggs and chicken on a regular basis, why not eat that shit? I'm nearly a quarter of the way through my life(if I'm lucky), I might as well get weird with it.

A tequila-filled CapriSun should be required in these experiences of yours, from now on.

I like how there are bunch of balut videos on YouTube and these are the only ones without horrible reactions.

Filipino here. Shit's gross, man.

oh god why

TIL. Fuck that.

Good on you for being adventurous, I guess. I don't think I could handle balut.

I was having a conversation with some Vietnamese friends who were grossed out by the fact that I really like century egg, and I was like, "You eat fucking balut, how is that worse!?".

Even that picture is making me a little queasy.

@andorski: Yep. Stopped eating when one day i got one with feathers and beak and i suddenly ate its eye... Never. Again.

There's...feathers...

I've eaten live octopus and thought it was all right. I wouldn't touch that with my ten foot pole.

You actually own a ten foot pole?

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

But it's full of protein.

Nah, man. I can't even deal with this right now.

OH MY GOD. I am so disgusted, I don't want to live anymore!

ಠ_ಠ

I'm not a fan of hardboiled eggs so this probably won't sell me on it. (Not to mention the fact that there is a embryonic bird in it) I am perfectly fine with duck and chicken eggs cooked in other ways.

I don't think I could ever try these. Seems too unethical and gross

@spacerunaway: century egg sounds really good.

We'll, balut was one of the things on my list to try, I have a lot of food on that list.

@horseman6: You should try Durian

I'm pretty sure "delicacy" is always just a way of saying "nastiest shit we could think of."

The gifs in this thread are great..

@jimmyfenix: I've had durian, I actually like it. Durian flavored mochi is pretty good.

In terms of food I'm the type of person who'll try anything once. I mean someone thinks this is a delicacy, who am I to judge? The thing about these types of dishes is that they weren't generally created by, say, "the emperor's head chef". They're mostly adaptations of the type of dishes that the lowest rungs of society made out of whatever's leftover after selling-off the good parts at market, or trying to make a meal out of whatever's leftover at the end of season.This type of dish cuts across cultures: pig's feet, cabeza, tripe, pretty much any dish involving intestines. Here we find what's really interesting about these dishes, at least to me. It's almost like a culinary time machine, the whole genius of this type of dish is the chef is able to show you something about how people from a certain culture lived. To me the most interesting thing about this type dish isn't the taste, but the history of the dish. More specifically, these ancient chefs are able to turn, basically, the "trash parts" of an animal or vegetable into a "delicacy" or at the very least something edible. Furthermore, many modern chefs utilize this type of ingredient to create their most striking dishes. I guess what I'm saying is: some people like rollercoasters, I like weird food. Finally, I'd just like to say, if you're interested in trying these kinds foods (i.e. "gross exotic foods"), seek out a place in your area that does it well. This isn't fresh ahi tuna or kobe filet mignon. While the provenance does make a difference, it's really about how it's prepared: cook a steak wrong, your customer might complain; cut a blowfish wrong, your customer might die. Anyway, keep trying new things and keep an open mind