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Hot Vit Lon

Have you ever devoured the delicious broth from a hot vit lon (an egg with a duck fetus inside)?  If you haven’t, you definitely should because it is delicious! Even though some of you may think I’m completely nuts, I am not ashamed to say that this is one of my favorite snacks ever. I grew up eating it, and I bet some of you love this as much as I do!

Think of chex mixs, pretzels, and other finger foods that you frequently eat at gatherings. Now imagine you’re in Southeast Asia. Rather than a bags of chips, you’d probably be snacking on the highly appetizing hot vit lon!

Hot vit lon, more commonly known by its Phillipino name “balut”, is a fertilized egg with a nearly developed duck embryo inside. Considered an aphrodisiac and a delicacy, this cuisine is often eaten within the shell and served with beer. In Vietnam, it is sold at street vendors like hot dogs in NYC.

Hot vit lon is very nutritious. Each egg has about 190 calories and offer nutritional contents such as protein, B-carotene, calcium, etc. The eggs are often considered to have restorative effects.

After the duck eggs are fertilized, they are stored in baskets and kept as warm as possible. In Vietnam, people usually buy eggs that are already cooked from vendors. In the states, many Vietnamese supermarkets would sell uncooked eggs. My mom usually buys them about 14 days old and keep them for a few days before preparing them.

Preparing hot vit lon is easy. All you have to do is boil them the way you prepare a hard-boiled egg.

The tricky part of the matter is deciding when to prepare them; this is a matter of preference. Some people prefer ducks that are about 17 days old because the duck has not fully developed so its beak, feathers, claws, and bones are unrecognizable. Others prefer mature embryos (around 19-21 days), so that they can taste the tenderness of the bones, see the feathers, and identify the duck. I try to not think about what I’m eating because I lose my appetite if I do.   One thing is for sure, I definitely will win any fear factor eating contest when it comes to hot vit lon!

Enoying the eggs: 

The eggs are often hot when served. To eat them, I wrap a paper towel around the smaller, pointy end. Then I use a spoon to crack the broad of the egg and remove a part of the shell. I then break the membrane and suck up the brothy juice of the egg. I continue to devour the rest until it’s all gone.

I usually don’t need anything else to enjoy the egg.  However, some people swear that the duck fetus cannot be enjoyed unless there is some rau ram (Vietnamese coriander leaves) and other vegetable garnish. I believe it is because rau ram has a bit of a spicy after taste which is supposed to provide heat to contrast the coldness of the egg: a bit of yin-yang theory in Asian cuisine. Additionally, there should be some chanh muoi tieu (a pinch of salt mixed with ground-up pepper and a dash of lemon juice). People sometimes drink beer with it also.

Bourdain and Fetal Duck Egg:

At OneVietnam Network, we love Bourdain so we have to add a short clip of his adventures with hot vit lon:

Question?

I’ve heard that there are hot vit lon shakes? If there are, the question becomes why drink protein fortified chocolate milk when you can drink a hearty duck fetus smoothie?!

How about washing Hot Vit Lon down with some Pho?  Can someone say… EUPHORIA?

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