Tuyo (Dried Salted Fish)

Tuyo is dried salted fish. It is fish that went through a thorough process of drying and salting so you can store it for a longer period of time.

It is usually eaten at breakfast with garlic fried rice and is dipped in vinegar infused with minced garlic and crushed siling labuyo {bird’s eye chili}. In the old days, when your family eats tuyo, it denotes poverty as tuyo is cheap. Today, tuyo is no longer considered poor man’s food. You can even get bottled Tuyo in Olive Oil at the supermarket. In restaurants, Tuyo Pasta with Capers is one of the dishes you can find in the menu.

When we talk about tuyo, it brings back my memory of childhood….

…rainy month of June or July……classes were cancelled and we were left at home because our parents were working. My Kuya Noel would cook his version of fried rice, one with minced garlic and soy sauce. He would fry tuyo and make a dipping sauce of vinegar, a pinch of salt, minced garlic and one crushed siling labuyo {bird’s eye chili}.

We would eat this with our hands, one feet raised on the chair where we are sitting down.

Kuya Noel loves the head of tuyo. If you’re eating with him, you’ll see beheaded tuyo’s lined up on the plate. You may wonder what it taste like but I’ve tried it. If you fry the tuyo to a crisp, then the head would be like a pork crackling but instead of fat, it would burst with the flavor of fish and the sea.

Now, I take it, you want tuyo for breakfast?

Good morning♥!