Doan Farm

Despite the signs, it's a Vietnamese-American operation.

Balut is a Filipino food that's more than an egg, but less than a duck. Or a chicken, as the case may be. In Saigon, I'd found, a half-hatched duck egg is called hot vit lon, and so despite my halting conversation with the proprietors of this stand, I'm unclear why they call it by its Filipino and not its Vietnamese name. In their eyes, I imagine, "balut" is the more transparent term; perhaps they've been watching the same globetrotting food shows as the rest of us.

In any case, this morning I didn't want to deal with the mess; my nosh was a salted, and cooked, duck egg (70 cents).

Doan Farm
At the Old Oakland Farmers' Market, vicinity of 9th St. and Broadway, Oakland
Friday, 8:00-2:00
(From an August 2011 visit)

Comments

[ddr]

from wiki "Many Vietnamese boat refugees landed in the Philippines in post-1975 and, as a result, a community called Viet-Ville (French for "Viettown") was formed in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, making it the center of Vietnamese commerce and culture complete with Vietnamese restaurants, shops, and Catholic churches and Buddhist temples at the time. Its ethnic Vietnamese population of the community has dwindled greatly, however, as many have since been resettled in the United States, Canada, Australia, or Western Europe. Viet-Ville remains a popular destination for local Filipino residents."

[Dave Cook]

Thanks, that's very enlightening.