The Rise of our Favorite Tuyo!

 Bayanihan Republic:

Tuyo, dipped into vinegar or mixed with fresh tomatoes and then eaten with sinangag… what comes first into your mind?  If you're a true blooded Pinoy, I bet hunger strikes you in an instant and you are craving for it now! Hmmm.... nyam nyam nyam! =)

Well for us Filipinos, tuyo has been really an all-time favorite staple food.  Tuyo is a Filipino word meaning dried. The fish, usually saliñase, is salted and dried to be preserved and stored for months. It is then fried in cooking oil and usually served with fresh tomatoes and sinangag (fried rice).  Pinoys eat it with clean bare hands.  We take out the scales, pick it up in flakes, and then dip it into vinegar or mix it with a sliced piece of tomato.  And some even eat it together with champorado (gelatinous rice mixed with water and cocoa).

Well, that’s how tuyo is usually eaten but have you heard of ready-to-eat or gourmet tuyo packed in a small jar? Forget the hassles of frying the fish, smelling the stinky odor (but for me, when at home, the smell of the actual tuyo being fried is a heaven sent scent!), taking out the scales and manually picking up the flakes because you can now buy a bottle of tuyo flakes in olive oil and enjoy your all-time Pinoy culinary icon in an instant! =)

Joel in the pilot episode of
MBA... May Business Ako in ABC 5
(now TV5).

The product I’m talking about is Uy Lami spicy tuyo in olive oil by young businessman Joel “Jayvee” Velilla who happens to be the host of our defunct show MBA… May Business Ako aired in ABC 5 (now called TV5) which I conceptualized and co-produced in 2006 (I’ll blog about it next time). We actually discovered him when he delivered his product at Starbucks to one of our colleagues. And then thought balloons just popped out of our heads saying “He’s the one!”, a certified businessman and a raw talent who has the potential to be a TV host! And then the rest, as they say, is “history”.

Jayvee used the screen name Joel Yuhico for the show.  He used the surname of his mom and former actress / beauty queen Emma Yuhico.  Photo shows his signature spiel before the CBB of the show.

Jayvee in MBA... May Business Ako's OBB.

Uy Lami was introduced to Joel by his Lola Herminia Adad Yuhico.  "Nagluluto ako dito everytime may family gatherings.  I try out new recipes and then this new recipe came out and they all liked it!  Kasi tuyo, masarap ang tuyo diba? (I cook here everytime there's a family gathering.  I try out new recipes and then this new recipe came out and they all liked it!  'Because it's tuyo, tuyo is delicious right?)," said Lola Herminia.

Lola Herminia Yuhico taught Jayvee the recipe of spicy tuyo in olive oil.

Jayvee showing Lola Herminia that he's an expert in cooking too.

Joel coined the term Uy Lami for his business, which means delicious in Cebuano.  He started with a small capital and produced 15 bottles for a bazaar and they were all sold out. And his luck continued as he learned that his driver also has a fish business and he knows the right place where to source out the tuyo and their laundry woman coincidentally has the skill on how to meticulously take out the scales of tuyo and turn it into flakes!  He's one lucky man indeed!  "Ito talaga yung nagtulak sa'kin magnegosyo, having all these factors, there's no reason why I shouldn't try getting into business, (Having all these factors pushed me to get into entrepreneurship, there's no reason for me why I shouldn't push through getting into business), said Joel.

Photo shows how tuyo is being sliced into flakes.

He used to have a store outlet in Muntinlupa but he found out that doing the business from home is more viable for him since he is just starting.  Customers just text or call him and then he personally delivers the orders.  That's what you call personalized service!  Well, he also has resellers who do the same thing. =)

Jayvee handles the packaging too.

Tuyo has evolved from being a so-called poor man's staple and hard-to-eat food to being a gourmet and easy-to-eat and prepare dish. Pinoys have also discovered that spicy tuyo is a perfect match with cream and oil based pasta as well as with Skyflakes or any other crackers!  And you can think of a hundred new ways how to enjoy this gastronomic treasure.  'But of course, the traditional way of eating it is still something that we should keep and pass on to the next generation right?

Busy people like me finds Uy Lami a right match for our lifestyle since it makes food preps very easy.  It's very handy and perfect for people on the go.  Pinoys who live and work abroad on the other hand are craving for it since they miss eating tuyo.  They find it hard cooking our well loved dish in a foreign land because the smell is something that other race can't take usually. =)  So our kababayans (fellow countrymen) find the perfect time to cook it or else they'll get into trouble! 'But Uy Lami spicy tuyo in olive oil solved their dilemma and made their lives easier and their meals more enticing!

Joel is also looking at going full blast in the near future by expanding its presence locally and exporting the brand to mainstream market abroad.  What else could I say but good luck to our budding entrepreneur who aims of making our favorite tuyo well known to the world!