How to Choose Good Balut Eggs, the Way Our Grandparents Taught Us

A good balut is one that has been incubated for about 20 days. At that stage the embryo is medium-sized and the white part is small and tender.

1. Look at the shell

When you buy eggs at the market, the first thing to do is pick fresh ones whose shells are still chalky white and rough. Older eggs usually have smoother shells with dark spots, and the longer they are kept, the darker and more visibly discolored the shell becomes. Fresh eggs are more nutritious and also give you the full, fresh flavor a good balut should have.

2. Go by weight

An egg of around 20 days usually feels heavy and solid in the hand. Older eggs tend to be lighter.

3. Test in water

Gently drop the egg into a glass of lightly salted water and watch it. If it floats to the surface, the egg is too old or has gone bad. Eggs that hover lazily in the middle of the glass are good ones, just right for eating, with the best flavor and a tasty embryo. An egg that sinks straight to the bottom is a young one with a small embryo, which suits people who like a small chick and plenty of yolk. This test only really works once you have the eggs at home and want to check their freshness; it is rather impractical when buying, since you won't have a glass of salt water in the middle of the market. Inconvenient as it is, this method gives the most accurate results.

4. Shake the egg gently and listen

To pick eggs that are just right, all you need are your ears: gently shake the egg and listen. With an old egg you will hear a clear sound, because the inside is loose with a lot of empty space, so shaking it makes an audible noise. Younger eggs that are just right are still dense inside, so when you shake them gently you won't hear anything.

A young egg is very dense inside, so you won't hear anything moving when you shake it. An older egg is looser inside and has a large air space at the top, so shaking it produces a sound. To choose a balut that is just right, you only need to pay a little attention to the sound the egg makes: neither completely silent nor too loud. Once you get the hang of it, picking perfect eggs becomes very easy.

5. Look at the egg against the light

Hold the egg up to a strong light and look at the air space inside. If the space is large, the egg is old; if it is small, the egg is young. The older the egg, the bigger the air space. People usually combine this method with judging the weight of the egg to pick exactly the eggs they want.