Exotic Foods of the Philippines

Famous Exotic Foods in the Philippines

1. Balut
The number one exotic food in the Philippines is 'Balut' or 'Balot'.  It is a boiled  preserved fertilized duck egg.Its outside appearance is similar with ordinary duck egg or chicken egg but balut shells is slightly darker.

Why Balut is exotic?  Balut is very exotic because unlike ordinary boiled egg, balut or balot has a baby duckling or chick inside the shell.  The chick inside has some feathers, and you can also observed the beak and feet at its initial stages.  Some people can eat this chick without leftovers. They eat everything even the small duckling's beak, feet and hairy body.

Other's who don't enjoy the chick prefers to eat the other parts of the balut. The egg yolk of the balot is the most flavorful.  It is comparable to the taste of a normal egg yolk but balut is juicier. The egg white is known for its hardness.  Its more difficult to bite the hardened egg white part of the balut.

To add more flavor,  balot is eaten with salt or dipped on to vinegar with chili.

Balut is usually serve at noon or during the night. There are sellers on the streets that will yell 'Balut' to sell their products.  You can also buy 'Penoy' - another exotic food


What is the difference between Balut and Penoy?
Balut egg has a chick inside. There are no chick inside a Penoy. Penoy taste like a Balut minus the chick.  A Penoy is more similar to a  boiled ordinary egg.

2. Isaw
There are two types of isaw. Isaw manok and isaw baboy. Isaw manok is the intestines of chicken while isaw baboy is the intestine of pigs.

Intestines were piereced on a thin bamboo stick (the same with BBQ stick) and roasted on 'uling' or coal ember.  In short Isaw are Barbecue using the chicken intestine or pork intestine.

There are more people fond of isaw manok compared to isaw baboy.
You can avail delicious isaw around the University of the Philippines.


3. Betamax
Betamax is a grilled  chicked blood or pig's blood. It is also skewered on bamboo sticks

Betamax is also available from isaw sellers on the streets. You can also avail Betamax  around the University of the Philippines.

4. Dinuguan
A stew of pig's blood or offals usually pork intestines.  It has a dark color.

Dinuguan is available in some fine dining restaurants of the Philippines.

5. Chicharon
This is less exotic compared to the list above. Chicharon are body parts of pig (usually intestines) deep fried on cooking oil.

There are chicharons, packaged like junk foods, in supermarkets.
A better chicharon is being offered inside buses or bus stations.

6. Many more..

The list of Philippine exotic foods is still long. Philippines also have..
Cooked Farm rats, farm frogs, crickets, farm snails, Beetles, Snakes, Crocodiles, Ostrich meat, and Bats.

Note:
Not all Filipinos eat these exotic foods. Some of these foods are also banned for the protection of species.This is for educationals and sharing of information only.  We don't mean to offend or disrepect anyone.



Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/blu_pineappl3/6747545529/