5 Simple Ways to Cook Tuyo and a Video on How to Eat It

Tuyo refer to small fish that are salted and dried under the sun. It is also the Filipino (or Tagalog) word for dry, which pertains to the characteristic of the fish after preparation. Herring is the commonly used fish variety for tuyo. There are many ways to cook tuyo and I have a few to share.

This dried fish is usually packaged in small plastic bags and sold in flea markets or sari-sari stores in the Philippines. Bottled tuyo in oil can also be purchased in supermarkets and in most Asian and Filipino stores abroad. On a side note, I prefer bottled tuyo during winter because it saves me time from cooking and  keeps the house from smelling fishy.

I think that champorado and tuyo is a perfect combination. I am sure that you will agree. Aside from this, there are also dishes that works well with tuyo as one of the ingredients.  The 5 dishes featured below are a few that we have. Can you add more to the list?

Tuyo with Rice and Tomato

This is a very simple dish involving fried tuyo. The dried fish is quickly fried and then served with rice and tomato slices along with a spicy vinegar dip. This makes a good breakfast especially if you substitute the rice with sinangag. View the post here.

Monggo with Tuyo

This dish is prepared using bottled tuyo. Instead of using pork or tinapa flakes, I opted to use bottled tuyo. It was an experiment to see if my idea will work and I am glad to report that it did. You can add the leafy green vegetable of your choice. Malunggay, hot pepper leaves (dahon ng sili), spinach, bitter melon leaves, and alugbati are some of the vegetables that I use of when preparing this dish. Click here to view the recipe.

Tuyo Pasta

Tuyo pasta is simply spaghetti noodles with tuyo flakes. I made this with bottled tuyo along with Parmesan cheese and olive oil. I like it because it is simple, very easy to prepare, and delicious. If you love tuyo but have not tried to make pasta out of it, here is your chance to do it. Simply follow the steps in this recipe.

Tuyo Fried Rice

This is an example of how to make your ordinary sinangag taste better. Most Filipinos like to have garlic fried rice for breakfast. Some eat it with fried egg, hot dogs, tuyo, and daing. This fried rice recipe is simply adding tuyo flakes to your regular sinangag. I think that this came to mind when I had a few pieces of leftover fried tuyo sitting in the table. Get the details here.

Creamy Tuyo Pesto

This is another pasta dish that makes use of tuyo. It is not your regular pesto because it does not have any pine nuts, but it is still fantastic. Don’t get bothered with the standing fish in the center, shredded fish flakes were used for this dish. I had the whole fish stand in the middle only to emphasize the main ingredient. Read more.

How to Eat Tuyo: Ultimate Filipino Breakfast