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Tuyo (Dried Salted Fish) substitute

Best substitute

Salt Cod (Bacalao)

Use the same amount by weight, soaked 12 to 24 hours with 3 to 4 water changes as the tuyo (dried salted fish) you are replacing

Best for tuyo and garlic rice breakfast

Taste and texture differ

Salt cod is the closest swap by weight, but it must be soaked for 12 to 24 hours with several water changes first, after which you flake and fry it. Salted anchovies packed in salt are closer in funk and need only a rinse, about two or three per tuyo fillet. For tuyo pasta specifically, four or five anchovy fillets in oil or a teaspoon of anchovy paste per serving works very well. Tuyo's job is salt plus a concentrated fermented fish umami plus a powerful aroma, so it is a flavour bomb rather than a portion of protein, and every substitute needs to be judged on how much salt it brings.

Other tuyo (dried salted fish) substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

Substitutes for Tuyo (Dried Salted Fish) with ratios

  1. 2Salted Anchovies (Whole, Packed in Salt)

    Different texture

    Use 2 to 3 anchovies for every small tuyo, rinsed well

    The best match for the specific pungency of tuyo, since both are small oily fish cured hard in salt.

    What changes

    Rinse the salt off under cold water, pat them dry, and fry them briefly or melt them into hot oil.

    Best for
    tuyo pasta, garlic rice, fried rice, sauteed greens, dipping sauces

    Gets the salt and the deep fermented savouriness right in a way nothing else here does, but they are much smaller and softer, so they dissolve into the oil rather than staying as crisp fried fish you can pick up with rice. You lose the crunch entirely. They are also extremely salty even after rinsing, so add no other salt until you taste.

  2. 3Anchovy Fillets in Oil or Anchovy Paste

    Taste and texture differ

    Use 4 to 5 fillets, or 1 teaspoon paste, for every serving

    The most practical option for tuyo pasta, where the fish is meant to dissolve into garlic and olive oil anyway.

    What changes

    Melt the fillets or paste in warm oil over low heat until they break down completely.

    Best for
    tuyo pasta, garlic oil pasta, sauteed vegetables, dressings, quick weeknight cooking

    Smoother, milder and considerably less aggressive than tuyo, so the dish tastes savoury and rounded rather than confrontational, which many people will prefer. There is no crunch and no fried-fish aroma at all, which is the main loss. Since these are packed in oil rather than dried, they contribute no dry salty flakes to the finished plate.

  3. 4Canned Sardines in Oil

    Taste and texture differ

    Use One 4 ounce tin, drained, for every 2 small tuyo

    The most available option, and the same species in several cases, just canned instead of dried.

    What changes

    Drain them, break them into chunks, and fry them hard in a dry pan so the surfaces brown and dry out a little.

    Best for
    fried rice, tuyo pasta, rice bowls, when tuyo is too strong for the household

    Soft, moist and only lightly salted, so this is the gentlest option by a wide margin and the right one if the smell of tuyo is a problem in a shared kitchen. What you lose is the entire point: the aggressive salt, the concentrated cure and the crisp texture. Add half a teaspoon of fish sauce per tin to bring some of the savoury intensity back.

  4. 5Dried Shrimp

    Different taste

    Use 2 tablespoons, chopped, for every 2 small tuyo

    A different animal doing the same job, and a staple in Filipino, Chinese and Southeast Asian pantries.

    What changes

    Fry the chopped shrimp in oil for a minute until fragrant and slightly crisp.

    Best for
    fried rice, sauteed vegetables, monggo, garlic rice, as a salty umami crumble

    Salty, concentrated and crunchy, so it fills the same role in a fried rice remarkably well, but it tastes distinctly sweet and shellfish-like rather than fishy and funky. A garlic rice made with dried shrimp is delicious and clearly not tuyo. It also stays crunchy longer than fried fish flakes, which some people prefer.

  5. 6For the Classic Breakfast, Nothing Really Substitutes

    Different taste

    Least-bad option: salt cod, soaked and fried hard until crisp

    Worth saying plainly.

    What changes

    Tuyo with garlic rice, fried egg and a saucer of vinegar is a dish built entirely on the contrast between very salty crisp fish and plain rice, and there is no supermarket product that reproduces that.

    Best for
    tuyo, sinangag and egg breakfast, when authenticity matters most

    Well-soaked salt cod fried until genuinely crisp gets you closest, perhaps seventy percent of the way, keeping the whole-fillet format and the crunch while losing the pungency. Anchovies bring the pungency but not the format. If this breakfast is the reason you are reading this, a bag of tuyo from a Filipino grocery keeps for months and is worth the trip.

What is Tuyo (Dried Salted Fish)?

Tuyo (Dried Salted Fish) is small whole fish, usually herring, sardine or scad, heavily salted and sun-dried until stiff and hard, known regionally across the Philippines as daing or bulad, and used as a concentrated hit of salt and fermented fish umami rather than as a portion of protein.

Cooking tips

  • Pat tuyo and every dried substitute completely dry before it hits the oil, and use a splatter screen. These are dry fish going into hot fat, and the residual moisture in the flesh spits aggressively. Frying it in shallow oil over medium rather than high heat also stops the thin tails burning before the thicker flesh crisps.
  • Cook it with the extractor fan on high and a window open, and do not fry it in a room you are about to eat in. The smell of frying tuyo is famously persistent and clings to fabric and hair for hours, which is a practical reason many people cook it outdoors or on a balcony burner.
  • Taste before you add salt anywhere else in the dish, including the rice, the pasta water and the eggs. Tuyo is one of the saltiest ingredients in any kitchen, and salted anchovies and unsoaked salt cod are saltier still.
  • Serve it with something acidic. A saucer of vinegar with crushed garlic is the traditional Filipino accompaniment and it is not decorative: the acid cuts the salt and the oil and makes the fish palatable in quantity. In pasta, a squeeze of lemon does the same job.
  • Store it double-bagged in the freezer, not the cupboard. Dried salted fish is oily and the oil goes rancid, and freezing also stops the smell migrating into everything else. It keeps for many months this way.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the tuyo out?

In tuyo pasta, you can, but you need to replace the salt and umami or you will be left with plain garlic oil pasta. Anchovy paste, a few capers and a splash of fish sauce together do a decent job. In the classic tuyo and garlic rice breakfast the fish is the dish, so there is nothing to remove; cook a different breakfast, such as tocino or longganisa with the same garlic rice and egg.

What is the difference between tuyo, daing and tinapa?

Tuyo is fish salted and sun-dried until hard, so it is very salty, dense and pungent. Daing generally means fish that has been split and salted, then either dried or marinated in vinegar and garlic, and it is usually softer and fried as a fillet. Tinapa is brined and then hot-smoked, so it is moist, golden and smoky rather than salty and hard. A recipe asking for tuyo wants salt and funk; one asking for tinapa wants smoke. They are not interchangeable.

Do I need to soak tuyo before cooking it?

Usually not, and Filipino cooks generally fry it straight from the bag, because the salt is part of the point. If you find a particular batch punishingly salty, a ten to fifteen minute soak in cold water or a brief rinse takes the edge off without washing away the character. Salt cod is the exception on this list and genuinely does require a long soak of twelve to twenty-four hours with several water changes.

Can I make my own dried salted fish at home?

This is one to be careful with rather than improvise. Salt curing and drying fish is a food preservation process where the salt concentration and drying conditions are what keep the fish safe, and improperly salted or inadequately dried fish carries a real risk of botulism and other spoilage organisms. Do not guess at salt levels or timings; follow a tested, published curing recipe and consult the National Center for Home Food Preservation for guidance. Buying it is both cheaper and safer.

How much tuyo do I need per person?

One or two small fish per person for a breakfast served with rice and egg, and for tuyo pasta about two to three small fish for four servings, since it functions as a seasoning there rather than a protein. It is intensely salty, so more is genuinely not better, and a pasta with too much tuyo in it becomes difficult to finish.

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