Champion eats 40 balut in 5 minutes

Balut is a duck egg with a partially formed fetus inside.

IF YOU WATCH "Fear Factor" or "Survivor," there's always an eating challenge that normally features balut, a fertilized duck egg with the embryo partially formed. 

I have to admit, I've never eaten balut. a street food favorite in the Philippines. Depending on how far the fetus has formed, you might have to pick the bones and feathers out of from between your teeth. 

The proper way to attack the egg, is to make a small opening first at the top of balut. Then, you're supposed to suck out the juices first before peeling off the rest of the eggshell and dining on the rest of it.

It doesn't sound or look appetizing does it? Unfortunately, to the vast majority of non-Filipino Americans, this is the only exposure they have to Filipino food.

This posting is in honor of Filipino American History Month which is October, commemorating the first arrival of Filipinos on America's soil. It is also in honor of my sister whose favorite memory of her childhood was a balut vendor walking through her Santo Tomas neighborhood in Manila yelling out, "Bah-lu-u-ut! Bah-lu-u-ut!" His cry would bring out the neighbors to purchase the warm duck egg.

A lot of the Filipino food stores in America now offer the Filipino ... er ... delicacy for its customers craving for a bit of homeland authenticity. Besides testing your intestinal fortitude and gag reflex, balut is also supposed to have restorative powers to the male ego.

Wayne Algenio, champion balut eater

Oftentimes, it is eaten as a beer appetizer -- lots of beer -- the way some bars have pickled hard-boiled eggs as a munchie.

Last month, two Filipino restaurants in New York, Jeepney and Maharlika, combined forces to sponsor the Third Annual Balut-Eating Contest at the Hester Street Fair. You can read about it at the NBC news site.

Filipino-American Wayne Algenio from Queens, N.Y. won the contest downing 40 balut in five minutes. He's won the eating contest three years straight. It tastes like boiled eggs, he says.

Sponsor Nicole Ponseca of Maharlika recalls her embarrassment eating Filipino food during school lunchtime. She wants to promote Filipino cuisine to the American palate, says, "If I can make Filipino food accessible to non-Filipinos, it will help garner self-esteem for young Filipnos growing up."

Below, watch the champion in action.