Despite being an object of culinary fascination around the world, balut is no beauty queen.

The 18-day-old fertilized duck egg - a snack widely eaten in the Philippines - has revolted even the most daring foodies with its carnal textures, earning it lofty rankings on many a "most disgusting/strange/terrifying food" list.

While food journalists commonly label balut as the Philippines' "much loved delicacy," in reality Filipinos are decidedly split over their nation's oft-sung snack.
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Chef Dale Talde recently shared his list of five Southeast Asian dishes he felt everyone ought to know, and halo-halo made the cut. Talde wrote:

Halo-halo
"This is my favorite Southeast Asian dessert that is essentially shaved ice. Halo-halo is the Filipino name of it and there are variations in a handful of Southeast Asia countries (Air Batu Campur or ABC in Malaysia, for example).

Instead of blueberry-flavored high fructose corn syrup (commonly served at roadside snow cone carts in the U.S.), Filipinos use fresh fruit like mangoes, jack fruit, lychee, avocado and young coconut, then tie the whole thing together with sweetened condensed milk and top it off with puffed rice."

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Thanksgiving is an American holiday, but because so many of us have roots in other countries, there are many international dishes on Thanksgiving tables. CNN Radio’s Jim Roope was invited to a Filipino family Thanksgiving celebration and discovered the addition of Lechon, roasted pig, next to the turkey, stuffing and sweet potato pie.

“All [Filipino] festivities are religious in nature so we always have an offering, a Lechon at the table,” said Nora Hizon, who immigrated to the U-S 40 years ago.” “We have the turkey, but we also have the Lechon,” she said.

After some coaxing, Jim Roope finally agrees to taste the Lechon. Listen to the audio player below to hear what happens.

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