Origin of Balut?
John Neal
or Chinese influences which leaves Balut as posssibly one of the few
indiginous food items now available. As I have never had the good fortune
to have much homecooked Filipino food I don't know how correct the
articles statements are.
Is it possible, however, that balut also came from China where, along with
the Vietnamese Hot Vit Lon, they also eat a similiar thing?
What is the National Dish of The Philippines? Many perhaps would say
lechon as it's often served at traditional gatherings but so is turkey in
the US but the national food here would probably be the hamburger or hot
dog.
If the criteria is which is the most popular then perhaps the
ubiquitous balut should be declared the winner. Can any non Filipino
say they have eaten and truly enjoyed balut? Not too many I suspect making
it also the possible winner of "The national delicacy that only the
natives can eat" award.
Balut web sites:
http://www.asiacuisine.com/publishing/sepoct13/page78.html
http://www.pinoydelikasi.com/html/trivia.htm
http://www.tribo.org/vegetables/balut.html
And if you must, a place to buy them in the US.
http://www.metzerfarms.com/balut.htm
So what's next. "How to Eat Dog" cookbooks?
Filet of Fido, canine canapes, Spot sandwich, Rover rigatoni, puppy
pancakes...
John Neal
LeeBat
>As I have never had the good fortune
>to have much homecooked Filipino food I don't know how correct the
>articles statements are.
Ah, a food thread. My favorite.
>What is the National Dish of The Philippines? Many perhaps would say
>lechon as it's often served at traditional gatherings....
Most will say adobo.
>Can any non Filipino
>say they have eaten and truly enjoyed balut? Not too many I suspect making
>it also the possible winner of "The national delicacy that only the
>natives can eat" award.
I've been told Aussies eat the same thing as a delicacy and I've certainly seen
them scarfing it up in the Phils, tho in trips to Oz I've never seen it on
restaurant menus.
Never thought to ask an Aussie about it however. Maybe one of our regulars from
Oz can comment.
LeeBat
hmm, haven't made sotanghon for a while....
Foolish Mortal
"LeeBat" <lee...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010223051318...@ng-ch1.aol.com...
> John Neal wrote:
>
snip
>
> LeeBat
> hmm, haven't made sotanghon for a while....
>
Shit man. You >>had<< to mention sotanghon. Welp. Time to break away from
the PC and get some vittles.
John Neal
mankinds greatest unanswered questions - Which came first the chicken
or the egg?
Inquiring minds want to know.
John Neal
Tim Harvey
where does a disservice since the regional varieties and specialties are
much more interesting and truer to the diversity that make this nation
unique than any single "national" dish.
Reference dishes like adobo and lechon make for good "sound bite" thinking
mostly for foreign consumption but dismiss things like the sea food focus of
the central region, the uniquely spicy dishes of Bikol, and so on.
Rather than identify the nation with a single dish, it would be more
interesting to come up with regional specialities. My vote is for ginamus
and variations of tinola and sugba for Negros and Cebu.
Tim
"LeeBat" <lee...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010223051318...@ng-ch1.aol.com...
Robert Chin
"John Neal" <har...@linex.com> wrote in message
news:Ncol6.31$FS3....@sjc-read.news.verio.net...
Dirty Sick Pig
Way off mark. Real balut is duck egg. Specifically, a breed of
waddlers called "itik" in the vernacular. There's even a lighthearted
native dance where the performers imitate it's funny walk. The dance?
Itik-itik, of course.
PenoyPig
Penoy: a duck egg that failed in its grand effort to be a balut.
Hardboiled and may be further cooked adobo style. Almost as expensive
as balut.
Dirty Sick Pig
Vietnamese balut is exactly like Pinoy balut. My favorite oriental
store is Vietnamese and balut is always available. They use duck eggs
like us. Now, when it comes to "itlog na maalat," I've seen it being
made in Hong Kong. Who learned from who, I cannot say.
Matt Meri
They call it by a different name, khai luk. Or, roughly, egg-baby.
It tastes good, but the salt content might be lower than the ones sold on
Manila streets.
As far as I know, Laotians sell this delicacy, and I have yet to find a
Filipino selling these on the streets of Vientiane.
Matt Meri
"John Neal" <har...@linex.com> wrote in message
news:Ncol6.31$FS3....@sjc-read.news.verio.net...
Pepeton
>From: Dirty Sick Pig DrtyS...@HotmaiI.com
>Date: 2/23/01 2:25 PM Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <3A96E352...@HotmaiI.com>
------------------------------------------------------
Balut to the Pilipino is "hot-vit-lon" to the Vietnamese, is "ap tay tan" to
the Cantonese.
"Balut sa puti" is the perfect balut. Depending on the breed of duck used,
this may be anywhere between 16 - 18 days old in incubation. ("sa puti" does
not mean "made by an American", as some people in California thought before
because the duck farms were all owned by American Caucasian). The Vietnamese
complete term for "balut sa puti" is "hot vit lon hao hang".
The Cambodians, the Mongs, and Thai also eat balut. One of them (can't
remember exactly) call balut - "Kay lu". The Cambodians prefer the "older and
bigger sisiw (duck embryo), and this would be around 20 days old.
Normally, it would take 28 days for a fertile duck egg to complete its
metamorphosis and hatch. This is for most breeds/strains of ducks, from the
Pekin (popularly known as "Long Island Duck Variety") and are easily recognized
for their "white feathers only" - to the Khaki Campbell (known as the most
prolific egg layers. The other white feathered duck that has a "red palong"
(head dress) is called Muscovy...which is not a great egg layer, nor ideal for
making balut...but is popular among French chef, as they use this for dishes
like "coco van or duck al orange". Muscovy ducks hatch after 35 days.
DSP referred to a breed of duck which is commonly referred to as "itik" in the
Philippines. This issue is still unresolve to this day. Some duck experts
claim that "itik" refers to the Khaki Campbell (most of which come in dark
brown feathers or light black feathers mixed with brown). Others maintain that
the "Philippine Itik" is actually a hybrid of the Indian Runner.
To the true connoisseur of balut, the breed of duck used makes a difference.
The number of days in incubation, is likewise a critical factor. The longer in
incubation, the bigger the embryo (the sisiw). The bigger the sisiw, the less
broth (sabaw), but also the smaller the albumin (the white *stone*, called
"bato".
"Balut sa puti" origin of the term comes from the fact that starting at day 16,
the albumin (the white stuff) starts to envelop or surround the
embryo...(remember, a fertile duck egg has three parts: the embryo, the yolk
and the albumin). During the first 15 days, the embryo feeds on the yolk.
When the yolk is gone, it feeds on the white (albumin) which then becomes part
of its protective coating...and when all the albumin is gone, the embryo is
fully grown and ready to hatch. Between 16-18 days would be the ideal time to
pull out the balut to ensure that it will be "balut sa puti", the embryo is not
too big, it is fully enveloped in the albumin (white) and there is still enough
broth (sabaw).
As for the penoy, DSP is absolutely right. It comes from duck eggs also...that
are fertile but not allowed in incubation for more than 7 - 10 days, depending
on whether one prefers "Penoy supsupin",(which is soft and soupy) or the dry
variety.
Most Asians, with the exception of the Chinese, prefer balut from duck.
Chinese prefer Chicken Balut.
Salted eggs are popularly made from duck eggs. But in China, most of the
salted eggs are made from chicken eggs. Traditionally, in China, salted eggs
are made by mixing dark clay and salt and wrapping the chicken eggs in it,
after which they are placed in a jar or cistern and allowed to age anywhere
between 15 days to 30 days. In the Philippines, this same method is still
being used. But in the USA, brine solution is used instead of salt and clay.
By all historical accounts that I have personally studied, China originated and
invented the process of making salted eggs.
One interesting myth or legend is that for the Vietnamese, balut is "brain
food". They believe that it helps a student perform better during an
examination if he or she were to maintain a regular diet "hot vit lon" during
review and exam week. As for the Pilipinos, the belief is that "balut" is an
aphrodisiac and the equivalent of organic "viagra" - Pampa "L" at pampa "T"
(pampa Lakas ng resistensiya, at pampa Tibay ng Tuhod...hindi bastos, say mo?)
How do I know so much about balut, penoy and itlog na maalat? Why not? I was
the number one balut vendor, in the world.
PisangPenoye2
("Hoy Mama, isigaw din ninyo ang penoy, panay "baluuuut" na lang ang nadidinig
ko sa inyo")
Robert Hauger
last time was in Manila it was Micky d's hamburger:+)
ROBERT B.HAUGER
Robert Hauger
The ozies eat grubs and the Thai eat rice bugs.Hell the Thai eat any
thing that moves.
ROBERT B.HAUGER
Robert Hauger
The Thai also eat Balut,both chicken and duck.BTW would you like a copy
of the latest cook book
101 ways to wok your dog
ROBERT B.HAUGER
John Neal
Thanks pusong...@aol.com
Newsgroups can be great. Ask a question and sometimes you can get the true
expert opinion. Could you be the world's greatest balut authority?
I truly am impressed.
John Neal
Tansong Isda
The particular duck that Philippine balut came from is native to the
Philippines. Altho' now, it is found all over South East Asia.
Pepeton
>Date: 2/25/01 3:03 AM Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <3E5m6.141$FS3....@sjc-read.news.verio.net>
----------------------
I wouldn't say greatest balut authority...now. There was a time when I was
pretty close to having (owning) the "cutting-edge/leading-edge" research &
empirical data base on the production and distribution of balut in the USA,
Vietnam and the Philippines. (From mid-70's thru mid-90's) - (Ehem!) I have
been out of touch and direct contact with the industry, for a while, with the
exception of occasional lectures/seminars/workshops in the Cal-University
system and the TLRC
(Technological Living Resource Center), the TESDA (Technological Educational
Skills Development Authority) and the NEDA (National Economic Development
Authority), spread out during 1996 - 1999.
Last personal direct involvement with the industry is thru Robina Farms in the
Philippines (John Gwokwonghei's). Unfortunately, Robina was plagued by labor
union problems and had to discontinue operations. The duck farm they had was
an impressive, 100 hectare state-of-the-art. Unfortunately, they could not
compete with the local duck balut producers, largely and primarily because the
breed which they imported exclusively as the Country Representative, from
Cherry Valley of England - the recognized leading global duck breeder of the
Pekin breed or Long Island variety, had only just that breed. And while the
Long Island variety or the Pekin Breed was ideal for its meat content, it was
not competitive for egg production, nor balut production. The Pekin lays about
200++ eggs (mostly super jumbo sizes) a year and it eats a lot. The other
breeds, particularly the Khaki Campbell, lay an average of an egg a day or 360
a year. Most of the local breeds in the Philippines are of this variety and
hybrid. I recommended to Robina to import different breeds or strains of ducks
that specialize in egg production and to develop a special niche market for
their "Jumbo Baluts" which they can price much higher than the market. (Some
gourmet restaurants, i.e., Nielsen Tower, named after the former Neilsen
Airport which used to be in Makati eons of years ago, developed a "Balut
Pastel" and "Balut et alio" [garlic sauce] using the Jumbo baluts of Robina
Farms. The Ayala Executive Tower & Cafe also featured some exquisite menus
with the Jumbo balut as the main aperitif.)
Things went well for the first six months of the Jumbo Balut market.
Simultaneously, we succeeded in supplying Hongkong with the duck meat for their
"Peking Roast Duck" markets. But, just when the smaller ducks were coming into
egg production, however, the labor problems in the other companies of the
Gwokwonghei's conglomerates escalated and extended to the Robina Farms, (duck)
itself. Pilferage, arson, then planned pestilence and other forms of sabotage
took their toll on the duck operations.
John Gwokwonghei, frustrated and disgusted, decided to close the entire Robina
operations, putting a final end to what would have been Asia's best in duck
breeding, hatching and a rare integrated operation of duck egg and duck meat
production. John said: "Not to worry. Look for good signs (feng shui). We wait
until all bad luck, roll off, just like water on a duck."
Yup, time was when I used to know for sure, if it waddled like a duck, and
quacked like a duck, it turned into money and brought me a lot of luck.
Watch for the next generations of balut...err, "balut-lite"? (For those
concerned with cholesterol and calories).
Or, How about "no waste balut"- jor 3 in one balut? (all three parts are
edible, the embryo, the yolk and the albumin - the "stone" or "bato" can become
soft, edible and tasty like "kesong puti" (white cheese).
And for the adventurous, how about, "double sisiw balut" (two for the price of
one balut)?
Pepeton J'anton
Pepeton
>From: har...@linex.com (John Neal)
>Date: 2/25/01 3:03 AM Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <3E5m6.141$FS3....@sjc-read.news.verio.net>
From duck balut (duck embryo) to "human balut" (human embryo)?
Ppe2
------------------------------------------------------------
Clinics Full of Frozen Embryos Offer a New Route to Adoption
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
New York Times - Feb. 25, 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------
Nancy Wegard for The New York Times explained that human embryos like these
sit in frozen storage in many laboratories.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Robin Nelson for The New York Times
Robert and Susanne Gray of Alpharetta, Ga., now the parents of four, have
placed frozen embryos from infertility treatments up for adoption.
--------------------------------------------------------------
ASHINGTON, Feb. 24 — On the afternoon of Feb. 14, an express courier truck
arrived at an Atlanta fertility clinic to make an unusual pickup. Waiting for
the driver, frozen inside a thermos of liquid nitrogen, was the promise of
human life: 12 fertilized embryos, the genetic offspring of Susanne and Bob
Gray.
For the Grays, now parents of four, the shipment represented an escape from a
moral quandary. Their embryos, left over from fertility treatment that resulted
in the birth of twins, had sat in cold storage for years while the Grays,
Christians who describe themselves as deeply religious, agonized over what to
do with them.
Their solution: to put the embryos up for adoption.
A California adoption agency introduced the Grays, of Alpharetta, Ga., to an
infertile couple from Virginia. The two families met in December. Lawyers
drafted an "embryo adoption" contract, and the Valentine's Day shipment is now
at a fertility clinic in Fairfax, Va., where, the prospective mother says,
doctors will soon implant three embryos into her womb.
While experts say embryo adoption, also called embryo donation, is rare, the
Grays' predicament is not. Twenty years after the birth of America's first
test-tube baby, reproductive medicine has produced tens of thousands of
children. But it has also produced tens of thousands of human embryos,
microscopic clusters of cells, frozen in tanks in laboratories around the
nation.
These embryos — consisting of more than 100 cells at the largest, one or two
cells at the smallest — are not only potential babies. They are also the
source of embryonic stem cells, which scientists say hold great promise for
curing human disease because they can grow into many types of cells. But this
research is controversial, because it requires that embryos be destroyed. Now,
as President Bush considers whether to permit federal financing for stem cell
studies, the fate of the nation's leftover embryos weighs heavily on the minds
of fertility doctors and their patients.
"It is a very emotional situation to be in," Susanne Gray said. Because of
their religious views, the Grays were opposed to destroying the embryos or
using them for research. "I knew that God had a life promise in these
children," she said, "and I have two of them running around my house."
That view is not confined to people who believe that life begins at conception.
"Other people may see embryos as nothing, but the people who created them
don't," said Dr. George J. Annas, a health law professor at the Boston
University School of Public Health. "The default solution for couples is to
just leave them there, whereas that is not a default solution for the clinic.
They hate that."
Dr. Alan Copperman, director of reproductive endocrinology at Mount Sinai
Medical Center in Manhattan, knows the default solution well. When his program
merged several years ago with one at New York University, Dr. Copperman began
trying to track down hundreds of patients in anticipation of closing the Mount
Sinai laboratory — some whose embryos were 15 years old.
He has sent registered letters and conducted Internet searches. He charges
quarterly storage fees of $500 — the practice, which is not uncommon, gives
patients "an incentive to make a decision," Dr. Copperman explained — and has
sent unpaid bills to a collections agency. Still, he said, he lacks
instructions for 120 sets of embryos.
(Page 2 of 3)
"I don't like the whole concept of bullying a patient into making a decision,"
Dr. Copperman said. "That being said, we're faced with a problem in this
country and we need ways to deal with it."
That problem may soon grow more complicated. President Bush's aides are now
reviewing a rule, issued by the Clinton administration last August, that would
give government money to scientists studying stem cells, as long as taxpayer
money is not used to extract the cells from embryos.
The rule, which has been harshly criticized by many abortion opponents,
requires that the cells be derived from embryos obtained from fertility
clinics, with the express consent of couples who no longer want children. If
the rule remains in effect, fertility clinics could wind up in the thick of the
stem cell debate.
Already, some scientists are delicately trying to negotiate with fertility
doctors to obtain excess embryos. Among them is Dr. Doug Melton, who conducts
privately financed stem cell studies at Harvard University. "Because it is a
new procedure, no one is quite certain what should be done to make certain that
it is all done properly," Dr. Melton said.
To Pamela Madsen, whose two boys, now 8 and 12, began life as embryos created
in a laboratory dish, stem cell research offers a welcome escape hatch from the
problem the Grays faced.
"If I give these embryos to another couple, then my children will have a full
sibling out there, a blood sibling," said Mrs. Madsen, an advocate for the
infertile who with her husband has eight embryos in storage. "My embryos may
not be somebody's child, but maybe my embryos could help somebody's child
walk."
In part to advise its members on how, or whether, to become involved in stem
cell research, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, which represents
fertility specialists, is planning to survey its members to learn how many
frozen embryos there are. In the meantime, Sean Tipton, a society spokesman,
said the group had advised members "to be very cautious in this area."
The society has advised clinics that they may destroy embryos if they have
diligently tried to contact the patients for five years. Two years ago, an
Arizona fertility specialist who was retiring took out a newspaper
advertisement warning that unclaimed embryos would be destroyed.
But most fertility specialists don't take the society's advice. Dr. Richard T.
Scott Jr. of Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey said he tells
patients their embryos will be destroyed after 20 years.
Mr. Tipton said: "Destroying embryos is a pretty final act. Doctors don't want
to find themselves in court trying to defend an action like that."
Amid all this hand-wringing, a number of fertility programs are quietly
offering couples the option of putting their excess embryos up for adoption —
either openly, as the Grays have done, or anonymously.
For couples who cannot conceive using their own eggs or sperm, embryo adoption
is an inexpensive alternative. Egg donors are compensated as much as $15,000.
But clinics, fearful of running afoul of laws that forbid the selling of
babies, typically require embryo donors to give the embryos as a gift, so the
only fee is the cost of the in vitro fertilization procedure, typically around
$3,000.
And there are other advantages, said Susan L. Crockin, a Boston lawyer who
specializes in reproductive issues. Expectant parents, she said, "can
experience pregnancy and control prenatal care, and also get much more
information about their child's genetic parents."
But, she said, there are drawbacks. Only five states have laws governing embryo
donation. And demand for frozen embryos far exceeds supply, said Patricia
Mendell, a psychotherapist who counsels infertile couples, because many
potential embryo donors fear the possible consequences of having another family
raise their offspring. "The whole fantasy in adoption is to go find your
rightful parents, and so people are fearful," she said.
Dr. Scott said he had helped arrange a handful of embryo adoptions over the
past five years. He is cautious; he always screens the genetic parents for AIDS
and other diseases, and he provides psychological counseling to both sides.
But while he uses embryos in his fertility research, he said, he would rather
see an embryo donated than destroyed. "The best thing that can happen to an
embryo," he said, "is to help make somebody pregnant."
The Grays had 23 embryos in storage, an unusually large number. Their fertility
clinic offered the option of donating the extras anonymously, but the Grays did
not like the idea of not knowing how their biological offspring would be
raised.
Bob Gray, theorizing that not all of the 23 would be viable, pressed his wife
to have more children. "That was the only realistic option that I saw," he
said, until Mrs. Gray learned of the Snowflakes Embryo Adoption program, run by
Nightlight Christian Adoptions in Fullerton, Calif.
The three-year-old program bills itself as the only one run by an adoption
agency. While fertility clinics typically match embryo donors and recipients
from within their own pool of patients, the Snowflakes program matches families
across the country — an approach that offers an advantage to embryo donors
who would not relish the prospect of their children running into biological
siblings being raised in another family.
So far, Snowflakes has paired 26 sets of genetic parents with 21 adopting
families, said its director, JoAnn Davidson. Of 14 women who have had embryos
implanted, she said, six have become pregnant, and eight babies, including two
sets of twins, have been born. (Nationally, 19 percent of women who attempt
pregnancy with frozen embryos give birth, according to the reproductive
medicine society.)
The Grays spent months considering the program and then gave Ms. Davidson
explicit criteria for any adopting couple: they had to be Christian, married
for at least seven years, with bachelor's degrees. And they had to be willing
to maintain a relationship with the Grays.
Ms. Davidson found Cara and Gregg, of Hamilton, Va. Cara, who agreed to be
interviewed only if her last name was not used, said she and her husband had
tried in vitro fertilization three times before doctors concluded that she
could not conceive with her own eggs. She heard about the Snowflakes program on
a Christian radio show. "It was the answer to my prayers," she said.
Last December, Cara and Gregg flew to Atlanta to see the Grays. A fast
friendship developed. "We were all very frank," Mrs. Gray said, "about our
fears and our hopes."
Still, both sides hired lawyers; Virginia has a law addressing embryo
donations, but Georgia does not. Cara and Gregg agreed not to terminate any
pregnancies. The Grays agreed to turn over 12 of their 23 embryos and send more
if Cara and Gregg need them. If they do not, the Grays will be faced with the
same decision again.
Neither side is quite sure what the future will hold. "I am just very hopeful
and excited, in a strange way, about this couple raising their children," Bob
Gray said. "It will be an exciting extended family."
Dirty Sick Pig
You sound like my survival school instructor. "Listen up, you @#$&ng
assholes! Anything that moves is FOOD! Except your buddy! [wicked
smile, holding up something waaay down in the food chain] The
Philippino <guess who> will now graciously demonstrate an application of
this basic rule."
GaggingPig