<p>I am currently living in an apartment with a Filipino household living below us and everytime they open the door or windows, there is this strong "smell" that is very offensive to my nose. Can any Filipino identify what that "smell" might be?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>There’s a crapload of things it could be, most likely they’re cooking fish.</p>
<p>Maybe something pickled…</p>
<p>You’re probably smelling dried fish being fried. It’s probably “tuyo,” a very small fish that is usually dried and then fried and eaten with rice for breakfast.</p>
<p>They’re used to smelling it, but since frying fish – ESPECIALLY “tuyo” – has a very strong smell, they need to open windows/doors or cook outside because the smell will linger indoors.</p>
<p>I don’t even like it myself, mostly because of the smell. But hey, people have to eat.</p>
<p>At least it’s not durian fruit. Oh boy…</p>
<p>My parents deny that it’s fish because they say that fried fish is supposed to smell good. They claim that it is perfume that my neighbors are spraying.
Is it like a special sauce or special type of oil that they fry the dried fish in or is it just the fish that smells that way?</p>
<p>Ew, durian fruit. =(</p>
<p>It’s the fish that smells that way – and it smells good to those who like eating it! At the moment, I can’t recall any other Filipino food that would smell so pungent other than fired “pusit” (dried squid) or fried “dilis” (another kind of dried fish), both of which are arguably less intense. When my mom cooks tuyo (and she does so very rarely because of its smell), it lingers for a couple of hours. If you cook it frequently, I imagine the smell would last longer.</p>
<p>Oh, trust me – fried dried fish is NOT something you would want to spray as perfume, even to those who like eating it.</p>
<p>Does the smell even smell like fish? Or even food? Maybe your neighbors are just up to something. :p</p>
<p>Good god durian</p>
<p>what is durian</p>
<p>lol some asian fruit that stinks. =(</p>
<p>Ill google it</p>
<p>Fried fish isn’t that stinky. It’s not that far off from the smell of anything else fried whether it be pork, beef, or chicken. So I don’t think it is the fried fish. </p>
<p>I hope it’s not that bad, but get some air fresheners to take away from the smell.</p>
<p>[Durian</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian]Durian”>Durian - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>It smells nasty</p>
<p>although durian candy is nice :D</p>
<p>Good GOD they actually eat fermented durian too</p>
<p>I don’t think it could really get any worse…</p>
<p>ill have to smell it</p>
<p>Boy, your neighbors must eat A LOT of tuyo to exude a smell every time they open their windows.
Whenever my dad cooks tuyo, he cooks it outside. Dried fish is hard to come by in the US, i don’t think they would cook it every day. Must be something else…</p>
<p>And Durian is actually good, i grew up eating this fruit.
Its an acquired taste, much like alcohol… hahaha.</p>
<p>Yeah, there’s a small EVERYTIME. Once or three times is okay, but it’s just getting ridiculous. I can’t just go down and ask them to stop eating those foods, you know?</p>
<p>Durian is actually really healthy and tastes good. Tastes good, not smelling good.</p>