Tuyo

Salted hard and dried in the sun for two days, then fried fast in very hot oil.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 1 kg small oily fish, gutted and split
• 250 g coarse salt, for the brine
• 1 litre water
• oil, for frying
• spiced vinegar, to serve

Method

1. THE DRYING IS THE DISH. Frying it is the last two minutes of a two-day process, and a page that started at the frying would be telling you how to reheat a bought thing.
2. Dissolve the salt in the water and leave the split fish in it for 2 hours. It should be aggressively salty: this is preservation, not seasoning.
3. Drain and lay the fish SKIN DOWN, well apart, on racks.
4. Dry in strong sun for two days, bringing them in overnight so they do not take up dew. Turn them once each day. They are ready when they are stiff and leathery and a press leaves no dent.
5. Without reliable sun, an oven at its lowest setting with the door ajar does it in 6 to 8 hours. It is not the same but it works.
6. TO COOK, FRY IN 1 CM OF VERY HOT OIL for 1 to 2 minutes a side. Fast and hot: slow frying draws out the salt and makes it inedible.
7. Drain on paper. Eaten with rice, a fried egg and spiced vinegar, in small quantities -- it is very salty indeed.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Philippines · All recipes