There's A Fetus In My Palate

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Aside from Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian and Filipino, maybe the most disgusting food that a foreigner may consider in their list is the balut. According to Tim Cameron of Cracked.com, he listed balut as his top "Most Terrifying Foods in the World". Even the well-known chef and foodie Andrew Zimmern has a hard time in swallowing this considered bizarre food. So what is balut all about?

Balut/balot is a fertilized duck embryo that's boiled alive and eaten in the shell. Popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack, balut are mostly sold by street vendors in the regions where they are available. It is commonly sold as streetfood in the Philippines. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg)

Here in the Philippines, almost all Filipinos have tasted balut except for those people who are choosy with their food. This food is mostly eaten with salt or seasoned vinegar. This is to neutralized the flavor. Balut is mostly accompanied by a broth and believe to be the albumen. This can be sipped prior to the whole part. Baluts are mostly being sold by street vendors during at night

Aside from eating the egg in a shell, balut is also wrapped with cornstarch and they deep fried. In some restaurants, they serve balut in different ways. They have adobong balut, balut soup, balut tempura and sizzling balut.

According to some historians, balut is not native to the Filipinos. They believe that it was originated in China and being brought by the traders and immigrants during the pre-colonization era. Pateros in Metro Manila is well-knowned as the balut capital of the Philippines

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The Two Version of Chicken Inasal

When the first bite of Chicken Inasal landed in my tongue, I thought that was already heaven for me. I still recall that first experience in a branch of Mang Inasal. That was the time when this barbeque fastfood was still 100 percent controlled by Edgar Sia II of Iloilo. Later, it was acquired by Jollibee Foods Corporation for 3 billion pesos in October of 2010 for about 70 percent of the company.

So what makes Inasal different from an ordinary chicken barbeque?

The smoked flavor added by cooking the meat on a hot charcoal grill imbibes the marinade and makes the dish tastier. This dish is also distinct for its yellowish color brought about by the application of achuete or annatto oil.

Chicken Inasal for me really suit the taste of the Filipino customers. Unlike a typical grilled barbeque chicken, this dish has different ingredients and preparation. You'll be needing time and effort before you could taste the fruit of your hardship. Normally, the chicken meat will be marinade together with the ingredients for several hours or better if it's overnight.

Before Mang Inasal has catches the taste of the Filipino, Bacolod's Inasal was already been there. I was fascinated how could this variant of inasal different from that of Iloilo version until I tried to drop-by at Joel Torre's "JT’s Manukan Grille".

As per my conclusion, Bacolod Inasal has a slightly sour taste while the Iloilo Inasal is more into sweeter side. Ilonggo's put sugar on their ingredients. Although the are not the same but I like them both.


A version of the Iloilo's Chicken Inasal that I found at Wikipilipinas that you must try:

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, cut into 6 parts (legs, wings, breasts)

Marinade

• 1 head garlic, macerated
• 2 tbsps. chopped ginger
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar (Note: this is optional if you want use the Bacolod way)
• 1/3 cup sinamak, (native coconut vinegar)
• 10 pieces calamansi, extract the juice
• 3 stalks tanglad (lemon grass), julienne
• salt and coarsely ground pepper

Basting Sauce

• 1/2 cup Star Margarine
• 1/4 cup atsuete (annatto seeds) oil
• salt and pepper
• large bamboo skewers
• charcoal for grilling

Preparation and Cooking Process:

• In a large bowl, place the garlic, ginger, vinegar, a small amount of sugar, tanglad, calamansi juice, salt, and pepper. Mix all the ingredients then add the chicken meat. Lightly rub the marinade on the meat. Place chicken in the chiller and let sit. After 30 minutes, turn the meat and let it sit for another 30 minutes. It is not ideal to marinate the meat overnight since the acid of the vinegar will completely break down the enzymes of the meat.
• Meanwhile in a saucepan, over low fire, put margarine and annatto seeds. For few minutes, continue stirring until the margarine melts and the annatto seeds are well infused and have developed a deep orange color. Turn off heat then add a small amount of salt and pepper to taste.
• After marinating the chicken, put several slits on the part near the bone to help with cooking the meat fully. Skewer the meat and cook over hot charcoal grill, skin side down, basting it once in a while. As much as possible do not turn the meat more than twice since the result will be drier meat.
• Serve while hot together with steamed rice paired with grilled oysters and sinamak or soy sauce with calamansi and siling labuyo (red chili peppers).

Photo from Flavours of Iloilo

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