To many Filipinos there is nothing daring about eating
balut. Especially not when balut is so easily surpassed by many more exotic
delicacies you may encounter as you travel through the archipelago - tha range
of crunchy, slimy or otherwise unorthodox textures that ooze with bursts of
flavor. With strong stomachs and a hearty appetite for both food and
adventure, the rural Filipino sees all animals, no matter how frightening, as
opportunities to create a delicious bite, whether it's a meal, a snack, or even
just an appetizer to go with their beer and gin. We have no qualms about
swatting, cooking, and eating pretty much anything that moves: beetles, phytons,
locusts, bats, field rats, sea urchins, frogs and so much more. Which is why in
the Filipino kitchen, nothing is ever wasted. Every bit of the animal is used.
A pig, for example, offers a cook more possibilities beyond pork chops. Its
blood, ears, intestines, cheeks, and tail are used as a matter of course -
literally - for various specialty Filipino dishes.
Boiled Duck egg or the Balut
This boiled fertilized duck egg is what Pateros and neighboring towns of rizal in Metro Manila is famous for. It will take 28 days to hatch a duck egg and producing this one of a king egg. These king of egg is boiled in 17 days when the ckick is still wrapped in white and whowing no beak or feathers. It is best to eat balut when it is hot and sipping its savor is so tasty. Said to be an aphrodisiac balut is traditionally sold be vendors who do their rounds via bicycle in the evening and ellowing 'baluuuuuut!' The menfolk like to gather at the street corner or in front of a sari sari stores with bottles of beer or gin and this egg mostly are their pulutan (bar chow).
Tamilok (woodworm)
Woodworm are commomly found in driftwoods and are common in the provinces Davao. Tamilok is not for the squeamish nor the faint
of heart. Eating this woodworm has more risque than eating sushi. Forget raw these worms are better eaten alive. It home or the driftwood is chopped for you to be able to extract pink juicy worms measuring about six to eight inches long. Once washed the woodworm are now ready to be dropped onto the tongue.
These are just 2 exotic foods philippines can offer. But once you go from places to another places here in the philippines you'll discover much more exotic food that you'll like and that's for sure.
