Vida Recetas Editorial
Balut is a fertilized duck egg incubated for 14 to 21 days, boiled whole and eaten hot, straight from the shell, with coarse salt and vinegar.
It is the star of Filipino street food: sold at night and kept warm in buckets of sand until the moment it is served. The incubation days change everything: between 16 and 18 days the embryo is small and there is more broth, ideal for a first try; at 19 to 21 days it is firmer and more intense. In Vietnam it is known as trứng vịt lộn and served with lime, pepper and rau răm leaves.
That rest is the step most people skip and the one that concentrates the broth. If you want to know where it comes from, read what balut is; for timings egg by egg, check how to boil eggs, and for another classic served in its shell, try egg in the cup.
Prep
10 min
Cook
25 min
Servings
4
Calories
188 kcal
Take the eggs out of the fridge 15 to 20 minutes before cooking: thermal shock is the most common cause of cracked shells.
Wash the eggs under running water and set them in a pot in a single layer, without piling them up or letting them knock against each other.
Cover them with the cold water, leaving 2 to 3 cm above the eggs, add 1 teaspoon of salt per litre and, if you like, the ginger or pandan leaves.
Bring to a rolling boil uncovered; once the water bubbles evenly, lower the heat to medium and start counting the time from that moment.
Simmer gently and steadily: 20 to 25 minutes for duck balut, 18 to 22 minutes for chicken balut and 12 to 15 minutes for quail balut.
Turn off the heat and leave the eggs in the hot water for 5 more minutes without taking them out: that rest concentrates the broth and finishes setting the centre.
Lift them out with a slotted spoon and wait 1 to 2 minutes. They are ready when the white is firm and opaque and the yolk has no liquid centre.
If one opens with a runny yolk, return it to barely simmering water for 3 to 5 minutes and repeat the 2 minute rest.
Tap the wider end of the egg with the back of a spoon until you open a small window the size of a coin.
Add a pinch of coarse salt, sip the warm broth first straight from the shell and then eat the rest with a small spoon, dipping each bite in the vinegar with chilli and garlic.
For the Vietnamese version, serve the balut with salt, pepper, lime wedges, rau răm leaves and a dash of fish sauce, alongside a pandesal roll or white rice.
Store any leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days and reheat them in barely simmering water for 5 to 7 minutes, never in the microwave.
This recipe has a medium difficulty level, which means it's accessible for cooks of all levels.
The preparation time is 10 minutes and the cooking time is 25 minutes.
This recipe is designed for 4 servings.
Yes, many ingredients can be substituted with similar alternatives. We recommend checking the recipe variations.
Store the preparation in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container. Some preparations can be frozen for up to 3 months.
