Balut of Pateros

Balut is a duck egg incubated for around seventeen to eighteen days and then boiled, so that the embryo has developed but the bones have not yet hardened. It is eaten warm from the shell: the top is cracked, the broth drunk first, then the embryo and the yolk, seasoned with salt or with vinegar and chilli, and the hard white albumen at the bottom left or eaten according to taste. Pateros, now a small municipality wedged into Metro Manila, built its identity on duck raising along the Pasig - the town's name comes from pato, duck - and while urbanisation has largely ended the industry there, the association holds and the town still celebrates it. Vendors carry baskets through the streets in the evening calling the name. It is the food foreign visitors are most often dared to try, which does it a disservice; it is ordinary supper food here, and the flavour is closer to rich broth and liver than anything alarming.

What you actually see

• The warm egg - cracked at the top, broth drunk first.
• The vendors - baskets carried through streets after dark.
• The seasonings - salt, or vinegar with chilli.
• The Pateros connection - the old duck-raising town in Metro Manila.

When to go

Evenings, when vendors are out - balut is night food. Available year-round from carts, markets and convenience stores.

Honest expectations

Buy from vendors with turnover and eat it warm. The developmental stage varies, and some eggs are further along than others - ask if that matters to you. It is ordinary food here, not a stunt.

Nearby

Pateros is in Metro Manila between Taguig and Pasig; vendors operate in every town in the country.