Biyâ

Daing na Biya from Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro. Photo by Mildred Cruz.

Biyâ is a long-finned goby fish. Daing is the way of drying it.

These fish were butterflied and dried in the sun for about a day. They’re very crisp and taste delicious dipped in vinegar and paired with steamed white rice.

A recipe from the 1950s calls for simply combining one biya fish with half of a medium-sized squash that has been cubed. Just cook with a red chili pepper, two pounded cloves of garlic, and salt.