Busogsilog

R Kitchen Bottled Tuyo (Dried Herring)

I’m a Tuyo gal, I love the salty fish along with rice and vinegar, it’s delicious. I think that might be why I like anchovies, they’re a similar flavor profile. I was excited when @rkitchenusa reached out to try their products and I’m so glad I did! They have different flavors like Spicy Garlic and Sweet and Spicy. It’s so easy to prepare right out of the bottle! While I can easily enjoy a simple breakfast of Tuyosilog (+fried egg +garlic rice), it can really bring an umami flavor to all sorts of things (similar to an anchovy!). Made these yummy rice balls that this kids just devoured, it was crunchy and were little bites of goodness. If you’re a fan of “tutong” the crunchy fried rice part that’s left at the bottom of a pan, you will love this!

Ingredients

• 3 cups Day Old Cooked Rice
• 1/4 cup RKitchen Spicy Garlic Tuyo (about half the bottle)
• 2 Tbsp Oil from RKitchen Spicy Garlic Tuyo
• 2 Scallions, Dark Greens separated from the White/Light Greens
• 1 Egg
• 1 Tbsp Flour
• 1 pinch of Salt (while the Tuyo has a nice burst of saltiness, you still need to season your rice)
• Frying Oil
• Optional Garnish: Fried Garlic, Dark Greens of Scallions

Directions

1. Combine the Rice, Spicy Garlic Tuyo, Oil from Spicy Garlic Tuyo, White + Light Greens of Scallions, half of the Dark Greens of the Scallions, and salt. Give it a mix. Add Egg and Flour, combine until evenly incorporated.
2. Wet hands with water, to form Rice Balls about 2 inches in size. You can’t use dry hands or the rice will stick to your hands, making it harder to shape the rice balls.
3. In hot oil (about 1/2 an inch high), fry the Rice Balls about 1-2 minutes each side, or until golden brown. Garnish with fried garlic or scallion.

🌟 Story Time 🌟

So Papa was frying Tuyo on a propane cooktop in our patio. He told me how nice it was to have a house to fry tuyo, that he remembers frying them, in their first tiny apartment in Chicago. Papa opened the windows and the front door to release the smell, but it traveled quickly and the neighbors were so mad about the smell of fish in the hallway! Papa apologized and scaled back on frying those little fishies. But guess what you don’t have to fry? RKitchen’s gourmet Tuyo, ready from the bottle! Flavors like Garlic Tuyo and Sweet and Spicy Tuyo that are great for a quick yummy breakfast. While there’s no frying needed, I chose to spice things up by making Tuyo Fried Rice Balls, hopefully my neighbors will be more forgiving 😉