On a fresh morning where the sun is starting to rise and the fog is slowly fading there's an appetizing and well-known odor that everyone in the neighborhood could not resist but to smell. A strong smell that's making every tummy to grumble.

That aromatic smell which is very familiar especially in Filipinos, came from one of the most well-known ultimate favorite Filipino food, “tuyo”.

Tuyo

Tuyo refers to a salted dried fish, it is very popular here in the Philippines. This dried fish was preserved with salt and dried in the sun. Here in Iloilo, we call it “uga”.

Here in my country, “tuyo” is considered to be a poor man's food because of its cheap price. However, this was a way too old connotation, nowadays it has been enjoyed and loved by different social status in society. Tuyo is best eaten with your bare hands. You'll enjoy every bite of it down to your fingers.

Although most of us will agree that it tastes very good its aromatic smell is quite offensive against some people especially foreigners or non-Filipinos.

As mentioned above tuyo is sun-dried and preserved. Preserving the fish is not that easy. In every province here in the Philippines, has. their. own distinctive specialties of tuyo. Nevertheless, here's the basic preserving and making a salted dried fish or tuyo.

Raw Materials:

Fresh fish

Coarse fish

Equipment:

Solar drier/any drier

Basins

Cutting knives

Procedure:

1. Clean thoroughly fresh fish and split into butterfly fillet (for smaller fish, splitting is not necessary)

2. Soak fish in ten (10) percent brine for 30 minutes to leach out the blood. Soak in 33% brine for 3-6 hours

3. Drain the water from the fish and arrange on drying trays.

4. Dry the fish under the sun or in an artificial drier at 65-70oC.

5. Cool and then place in polyethylene bags.

Source: Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST)

* When preserving and drying the fish under the sun make sure that the environment was clean with no insects such as flies. I suggest to use some nets to cover to ensure hygienic safety.

If our budget is tight tuyo is our best option for the day, aside from its cheaper price it also lasts for long days. I usually love to eat tuyo on rainy days. It is perfect with warm steamed rice and dipped with vinegar. But there are many ways to enjoy your tuyo. Tuyo can be the star of your plate or it can be your side dish.

Here are some of Tuyo's “perfect match”

Tuyo and Sinangag

Sinangag is also known as fried rice. This is the best match with tuyo and you can make your fried rice an extra-special one. You can make some garlic fried rice or java rice. But for me, even the simplest fried rice best fits with tuyo. The tuyo can turn your simple fried rice into an appetizing meal.

Tuyo with Egg and tomatoes

This is a typical Filipino breakfast, rice with egg (sunny side up or scrambled), tuyo with fresh or dried tomatoes on the side. This drooling breakfast is one of my favorites. You'll certainly add extra rice with this.

Tuyo and Champorado

This is a breakfast meal combination composed of chocolate porridge and salted dried fish. This combo has a sweet and salty component, which complement each other well. Champorado is made from glutinous rice and cocoa tablea along with granulated white sugar. You can add some milk in your champorado to top.

Tuyo and Munggo

Well, we made this dish a couple of times. Whenever we have available munggo or mung beans at home and we have some tuyo or tuyo leftovers we usually cook this dish. We cooked the mung beans as typically and just add the pieces of tuyo instead of adding pork or other meat. The saltiness of tuyo will be absorbed and it'll add extra flavor to the dish.

Tuyo and Sinamak

Just perfect! Are you familiar with Sinamak or sinamakan? This is very common here in Iloilo. It is a spiced vinegar with a lot of siling labuyo, ginger, peppercorns, and garlic, but here in Iloilo, in Western Visayas, it always has langkawas or galangal. It gives your Sinamak an enticing aroma and appetizing flavor. Well, for me this is the best dipping sauce, especially for tuyo. The spiciness of the vinegar will add up some extra kick in your meal.

Filipinos are very resourceful and thanks for that this tuyo was invented and existed and enjoyed by many people, not only in the Philippines but I saw a lot of posts before were some other countries who have tasted the tuyo loved and enjoyed this proudly Pinoy food. Despite its smelly fragrance surely the taste won't fail you.

If you haven't tasted it yet, try to have a bite and know to yourself why tuyo is one of the most well-known and loved by the Filipinos.

@eommaZel 🥀✍🏻