Surprisingly, I have had a lot of requests from people asking for this fried anchovy recipe (Myulchi bokum-멸치볶음).  It’s one of the easiest dish to make and most Koreans will normally have this as one of  the side dishes with a meal.

I grew up with this dish.  I was told it has a lot calcium which is good for growing bones. There are many different sizes of anchovies. Small ones are used for frying and served as a side dish and big ones can be fried in chilli but generally it is used for making stocks.

I strongly recommend that you buy the anchovies from one your nearest Korean supermarkets. The local ones you buy in Singapore are much more salty and not as fresh.

How to make fried anchovy:

• 150g small dried anchovies
• 1 tbsp soy sauce or tuna extract sauce
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp corn syrup
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil or olive oil
• 1 long green chilly, sliced thinly (optional)

Direction:

• Pour 2 tbsp of oil on to a frypan on a medium heat
• Once the oil is heated up, add the anchovies and fry them until they are light brown

• Add a tbsp of soy sauce and 1/2 tbsp of brown sugar and mix until they are combined. I use tuna extract for a better flavour

• If you want to include the chilli, stir fry it  with the anchovy.
• Add the 2 tbsp of corn syrup and mix until it is all dissolved. The corn syrup will make the anchovy crispy. If you don’t like it crispy, you can skip this step and just season with soy sauce and brown sugar

• Sprinkle some of the sesame seeds and its ready to be served!
• Before the anchovies becomes too crispy, put them in a container. Once it is cooled down. Keep it in the fridge.