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Balao-Balao (Burong Hipon): Filipino Fermented Shrimp and Rice, Safety-First Recipe

By Updated 2 min read

Balao balao is the punchy, probiotic-rich fermented shrimp condiment from Pampanga — one of the oldest fermentation traditions in Philippine cuisine. Here’s how to make it safely at home and what to do with it.

At a glance

Balao-balao (burong hipon) is a Kapampangan ferment of fresh shrimp, cooked rice and salt, soured by lactic acid bacteria over about a week and sautéed before serving. Because it contains raw shellfish, use very fresh shrimp, weigh the salt, make sure it turns clearly sour in the first few days, discard any batch that looks or smells wrong, and cook it before eating.

  • Ingredients: fresh shrimp, cooked rice and salt, fermented about 5–7 days.
  • Lactic acid bacteria such as L. plantarum sour the mixture.
  • The first days, before the pH falls, are the critical safety window (FAO).
  • Fish-and-rice izushi caused 21 type E botulism outbreaks in Hokkaido, 1951–1965.
  • Refrigerate once sour and sauté before eating.

Ferment profile

Origin
Pampanga, Philippines
Fermentation
Lactic acid
Main microbes
Lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillus plantarum, L. fermentum and Weissella cibaria
Live cultures
No (cooked, baked or pasteurized)
Alcohol
None / trace

Balao-balao – burong hipon in Tagalog – is a fermented mixture of fresh shrimp, cooked rice and salt from Pampanga in the Philippines. Lactic acid bacteria ferment the rice, turning the mixture sour and savory while the shrimp soften and turn pink. It’s usually sautéed with garlic, onion and tomato (ginisang balao-balao) and eaten as a condiment with grilled or fried fish, meat and fresh or blanched vegetables such as mustard leaves.

Because it combines raw shellfish, cooked rice and room-temperature fermentation, balao-balao needs more care than a vegetable ferment. The recipe below puts the safety rules first – the same approach as our burong isda page.

How It Ferments

The rice feeds lactic acid bacteria, which sour the mixture and lower its pH. DNA-based analysis of Philippine fermented foods, burong hipon among them, found lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillus plantarum, L. fermentum and Weissella cibaria dominant (Dalmacio et al., 2011), and L. plantarum strains have been isolated from balao-balao itself (Lara et al., 2024).

Safety First

An FAO review of low-salt fermented fish names Salmonella, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium botulinum as the hazards, and identifies the first days of fermentation, before the pH falls, as the critical window (FAO). Seafood-and-rice ferments have a real botulism history: Japanese izushi, a fish-and-rice preparation, caused 21 type E botulism outbreaks in Hokkaido between 1951 and 1965 (Nishiura, 2007). So has Egyptian fesikh, a whole mullet salted without gutting. We found no documented outbreak linked to balao-balao, but the same precautions apply:

  • Very fresh shrimp, kept cold and used the day you buy them.
  • Weigh the salt and don’t reduce it.
  • Get it sour fast: ferment at about 20–25°C (68–77°F). With pH strips, it should be clearly below 4.6 within the first few days; if it isn’t, or it smells wrong, discard it.
  • Discard any batch with mold, sliminess, or an ammonia or putrid smell.
  • Refrigerate as soon as it’s pleasantly sour, and cook it before eating.
  • Avoid it if you have a shellfish allergy; people who are pregnant, older or immunocompromised should eat it only well cooked.

How to Serve It

  • Ginisang balao-balao: sauté garlic, onion and tomato in oil, add a few spoonfuls of balao-balao and cook, stirring, until steaming hot and fragrant.
  • Serve with grilled fish or pork, fried catfish, and blanched mustard leaves or okra.

Related: fermented shrimp paste (bagoong, belacan, kapi) and the Philippine sweet pickle atchara.

Recipe: Balao-Balao (Burong Hipon)

Makes
About 800 g
Hands-on
45 min
Fermentation
About 5–7 days at 20–25°C, then refrigerate
Salt
About 10% of the shrimp weight
Temperature
About 20–25°C (68–77°F)
Difficulty
Advanced

Equipment

  • Kitchen scale
  • Large bowl
  • 1-litre glass jar, washed in hot soapy water
  • Weight
  • pH strips (strongly recommended)

Ingredients

  • 500 g very fresh small shrimp (heads removed; shell on or peeled)
  • 300 g cooked rice (glutinous or regular, cooled completely)
  • 50 g salt (about 10% of the shrimp weight – weigh it)
  • Optional annatto water (for the traditional color)

Method

  1. Cook the rice and let it cool completely.
  2. Rinse the shrimp in cold water, pat dry, and weigh them; weigh out salt at 10% of that weight.
  3. Mix the shrimp, rice and salt (and annatto water) thoroughly with clean hands or a spoon.
  4. Pack into the jar, pressing out air, weigh it down and cover loosely.
  5. Ferment at 20–25°C. Check smell daily and pH if you can: it should be clearly sour and below pH 4.6 within the first few days – otherwise discard it.
  6. When pleasantly sour (usually 5–7 days), refrigerate.
  7. To serve, sauté with garlic, onion and tomato until steaming hot throughout.

Frequently asked questions

What is balao-balao?

A Kapampangan fermented mixture of shrimp, cooked rice and salt, soured by lactic acid bacteria and usually sautéed before serving.

Is balao-balao the same as burong hipon?

Yes – burong hipon is the Tagalog name for the same fermented shrimp and rice.

Is balao-balao safe?

It can be, with care: very fresh shrimp, weighed salt, a fermentation that turns clearly sour in the first few days, discarding any batch that looks or smells wrong, and cooking before eating.

Do you cook balao-balao?

Yes – we recommend sautéing it with garlic, onion and tomato until steaming hot before eating.

What does balao-balao taste like?

Salty, sour and savory, with a strong seafood flavor that mellows when sautéed.

What is balao-balao served with?

Grilled or fried fish and pork, and blanched vegetables such as mustard leaves or okra.

Is it the same as bagoong?

No. Bagoong alamang is salted shrimp paste without rice; balao-balao is fermented with rice, which makes it sour.

Sources

  1. FAO (Paludan-Müller). The microbiology of low-salt fermented fish products. Link
  2. Nishiura H (2007). Incubation period as a clinical predictor of botulism: analysis of previous izushi-borne outbreaks in Hokkaido, Japan, from 1951 to 1965. Epidemiol Infect 135(1):126–130. Link
  3. Dalmacio LM et al. (2011). Assessment of bacterial diversity in selected Philippine fermented food products through PCR-DGGE. Benef Microbes 2(4):273–281. Link
  4. Lara ZB et al. (2024). Draft genome sequence of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum BS25 isolated from a local fermented rice-shrimp mixture from the Philippines. Microbiol Resour Announc 13(2):e00808-23. Link
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