One delicacy that can make foreigners squeamish or cringe violently is balut. It's fertilized duck egg incubated for 18 days, boiled, and eaten by hand and usually, in the dark.
You crack the bottom (flatter) side of the egg, open a small hole then sip (slurp is the better term) the juice. Then you peel off the rest of the shell a little at a time, exposing the yolk, the white and the chick!
That is what drives people crazy.
Imagine seeing a tiny beak and feathers of the beginnings of a duckling and popping that into your mouth! That is why balut is usually sold by vendors at night, and is best eaten with little to no light.
I used to love eating balut. I would put a bit of salt then munch away, enjoying the delicacy. Others dip it in vinegar with chili. Then my late sister did the craziest thing - she pulled out the bird by the neck and swung it in front of my face!
Eeewwwww!!!
And from that time on, I never ate balut again. Well, some nice people give me the yolk just to prod me to eat. But they know I will never, ever eat a whole balut again because of that experience.
But the balut I want to talk about is not the street food.
(I later did a write-up on an entrepreneur who brought balut to malls to upscale the street food. Fortunately, she also sold quail eggs and that is what I opted to eat when offered.)
The balut I prefer is a dice game. Yes, dice. Or five dice, to be exact. You need a vessel to shake them in, then throw them on the table or flat surface and depending on what numbers come out, add up scores.
It's really poker dice, invented by an American soldier who was holed up in a hotel in Tacloban City. He wanted to play poker but had no cards. (I wonder how they found dice instead!)
He named it balut after walking around town and hearing a vendor bellowing "Balut!"
My dad, who loved all sorts of card or board games, introduced it to us.
Well, he bought this really nice leatherette cup (so shaking the dice doesn't make a clanking sound) and five big dice, slapped a pen and paper on the table and said he had a new game we could play.
The game is somewhat similar to poker. Any number of players can participate, and needless to say, the more, the merrier.
A score keeper is required, although one of the players can do that. The one with the highest score wins.
For each number (1 to 6), a player adds up the total he gets for every turn, i.e., Player A scores 4 points when he throws four ones; Player B scores 12 points for throwing three fours; Player C gets 24 points for four sixes, etc.
For every turn, a player is allowed three throws, leaving the dice open for which a category is being played. (First throw is 2 ones. For the second throw, shake 3 dice and another one appears. The third throw will have 2 dice in the shaker). Whatever the outcome after the third throw is what is recorded as the score for the category being played for.
Aside from the numbers, there is Choice, Straight, Full House, and Balut, which is when a player gets five of any number. The score for this is 30 points.
Choice is a combination of any numbers once all six have already been filled, or there is a repeat. (Ex: Five already has a score, but a player again throws multiple fives).
Straight is either from 1 to 5, which scores 15, or 2 to 6, which is equal to 20 points.
A Full House, like in the card game, is a combination of a pair and a triple, the numbers of which are summed up for the score.
If most of the categories are filled, a player can opt to scratch the throw or leave a category zero.
Even with just three players, it can get very rowdy. Imagine if there were five or more playing!
It's the anticipation of scoring a Balut or waiting to get a decent score for every category each time a player throws the dice that makes this an uber exciting game.
Needless to say, anyone can play and kids have just as good a chance at winning as adults do. It is pure luck after all.
You'll hear shouts and screams, moans and groans depending on the outcome of each turn. Excitement builds up when most of the categories have been filled and it's only the elusive Balut that everyone is waiting for.
We've had occasion to play this with around eight players, I think. And boy, were we noisy enough to bring the roof down!
The game beats any mobile game app (although there is now a balut game app! waaaah!) because it is the interaction that makes it so priceless.
Even the most docile player will not be able to hold back emotions, even if its just a squeak or a grunt, if they're close to a good throw.
I can almost imagine my Dad's laughter now. He squeals in delight when he's winning or gets a lucky break, and rubs his hands together in glee.
Yes, we love this game, and love every moment spent playing it. Now, I miss both the game, and my Dad, and my sister...
If only I can find the shaker and the dice.
Photos: Unsplash
