A street food especially common to the Philippines, Vietnam, and Cambodia, it is a fertilized embryo, usually duck (sometimes chicken), that is boiled or steamed. The resulting food is eaten out of the shell in most cases.

The time period for incubation period and temperature vary depending on both regional preparation and the type of embryo that is being used. For example, if you are using a duck embryo, some guidelines indicate that you may want to incubate it for a period of 18 days at around 42 degrees Celsius. Do so for too long and you may end up with a duck hatching, usually around 28 days. If you are working with a chicken embryo, then you probably will want incubate the egg for a shorter time period.

If you have questions about the best method for consuming balut, there are videos with guidelines about how to do so. Almost every single one instructs you to eat balut from the shell. Some guides instruct you to crack the egg open at the top, then slurp the fluid inside the egg. Just to get ahead of another potential question, yes, you can eat the embryo whole. At this stage of development and being cooked, it any bones should be soft enough to be consumed.

There are also some cases where the balut is prepared “raw”. It should be noted that this does not necessarily mean that the balut was not cooked at all but was cooked for a smaller period of time. Exercise caution in such cases, much like you might with seafood that’s either not cooked or cooked for far shorter time periods.

On a similar token, I should note that the the conditions used to cultivate balut are ripe for the development of certain bacteria if proper precautions are not taken. Likewise, make sure to do some research into where you purchase eggs from in order to prepare balut. The primary reason for adding this final warning is that you want to have an idea of how old the eggs are when preparing balut.

There are uses for balut in folk medicine, including some regarding pregnancy. Additionally, balut is believed by some to be an aphrodisiac. I believe that covers the very basics of this particular food, but there is a lot of discussion around it. I recommend that you do your own research into it if you are so inclined.