Mikey Bustos: Filipino Balut Egg Tutorial

In the episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled “Chain of Command” (Season 6, Episodes 10/11), Captain Jean-Luc Picard is captured during a black ops mission, and is held prisoner by a sadistic Cardassian interrogator. In one scene, the Cardassian is eating from a hatched egg, in which is contained a live bird. He invites Picard to try eating one, who then overcomes his initial distaste, and eventually devours it whole.

Now, imagine the bird is a duck, is cooked only a few days before hatching, and is obviously not live. The result is a delicacy unique to the Philippines (or so they tell me) known as the balut (pronounced bah-LOOT). When he was a boy, Mikey's father always said, “You’re not a true Filipino if you haven’t eaten balut!” Sal would agree, so he's probably right.

I am encouraged to one day try one, but I'm not even sure they're legal here. Maybe they serve them at Jollibee (the major fast food chain of the Philippines) at their locations on the West Coast here in the States. I just know I'm going to hurl the first time. At least my son won't be there to announce the event on Twitter. He's a twisted little fellow.

Gets that from his mother.