Maharlika is a restaurant in Manhattan's East Village that sells one of the strangest foods you can buy in
It's called the balut, and it's basically a hard boiled egg with a fertilized duck embryo inside. In other words, there's a partially formed duck fetus in the egg.
While it might seem strange to most, the balut is actually a common dish in the Philippines and parts of Southeast Asia. The second annual balut eating contest also takes place on Saturday, August 3 in Manhattan's Lower East Side with last year's winner downing 18 eggs in 5 minutes.
We learned how to properly eat a balut from Maharlika owner Nicole Ponseca, who's eaten these fertilized duck eggs since she was a kid. We then took some back with us to the Business Insider offices to see how our co-workers would react to eating the balut.
Produced by William Wei
Additional Camera by Justin Gmoser