Remember my Filipino guys who can work magic in the kitchen?
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Well, they moved to a new place, a bigger place and more importantly, a bigger kitchen. That spells good news for us. 
It means they will throw more food parties and invite us over. *rub hands together in glee*
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On Saturday night, they threw a housewarming-cum-food party at their new place. Guest list was kept short. Mostly friends from the office.
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As usual, the food blew our minds away!
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Menu for the night :
- Kare-Kare (beef tripe and veggies cooked in peanut sauce)
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- Prawn Sinigang (similar to the pork sinigang they cooked for us before)
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- Pork Adobo (I’ve had this before and as yummy as it is, I find it a little too oily for my liking)
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- Beef Morcon (this is my fav! It’s like the Filipino version of the beef cordon blue)
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- Cream Fruit Cake for dessert
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However, the highlight of the dinner was not any of the above. It was something that I personally requested with the Filipino boys.
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Remember the 8 ‘baluts’ which the Amazing Race Asia - Season 2 (TARA2) contestants were made to eat in one of the early episodes of the season? Well, even before TARA2, I’ve heard alot about this exotic Asian food and have been eager to try it out. I got my wish last night.
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For those who haven’t the faintest idea what a ‘balut’ is, it’s actually a fetal duck egg that is already half developed into an embryo. So, half of the egg is still yolk and the other half is already an embryo. It sounds disgusting, looks sickening but actually tastes pretty good! Read more about it here.
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So, I was educated on how to eat this aphrodisiac.
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*Note* Prepare some fine salt (the same kind we use for our tequila shots) to dip the ‘balut’ in before eating it. It enhances its taste, it seems.
- Look for the darker part of the egg to identify where to make a hole.
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- Make a small hole and suck the ‘juice’ from the hole. I was skeptical about ’sucking the juice’ (hmmm…sounds suggestive!) but after being convinced by my Filipino friends, I finally did it and I was surprised by how good the juice is. It actually tastes like some Chinese chicken herbal soup. Yum Yum!
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- Peel off the remaining shell from the entire egg.
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- Visually, the egg is made up of 2 portions.
(i) The yellow portion is the yolk and it tastes exactly like - an egg yolk. Nothing shocking there.
(ii) The white portion is actually the half-developed embryo. This, I proceeded with caution.
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Firstly, I was told to NOT look at it. That way, I will not be disgusted and turned off eating it. I took my first bite. Hmmm…tastes abit weird but I guess it’s not too bad. Second bite - I made the mistake of opening my eyes to peep at the stuff. What I saw turned me off and I couldn’t eat it after that.
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Click here to see the sight before me.
It looked like I was eating some animal’s brain. Urgh.
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So, I decided to just stick to the juice and the yellow yolky bit. Will leave the embryo to my Filipino friends. At least, I can bravely say that I’ve tasted one of Asia’s most notorious food - The Egg with Legs. :S
I also learnt that there are many different qualities for a ‘balut’ as well. I was lucky to have tasted one of the better ones. The poorer quality ones will be those that the embryos are too far developed that one can actually get poked in the mouth by the full beak of the embryo. Ouch!
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I remember some of the TARA2 contestants having to pick the hard beak out of their mouth coz it was just too hard to be eaten. Thank God my Filipino friends have higher and better tastes!
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After dinner, the gang had a fun time playing Trivia. I was sure their neighbours were cursing us for the ruckus created in the excitement of the game.
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Once again another great fiesta by the Filipino guys. Thanks dudes! I’ve enjoyed myself thoroughly, as usual. :)))
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