Dried anchovies are sold in plastic bags or boxes, sorted by size. Smaller anchovies (mareun janmyeolchi 마른 잔멸치) are used in stir-fries and toasted whole with soy sauce and chili paste to serve, bones and all, as a side dish with rice or as a snack. Large anchovies (gukmulyong mareunmyeolchi 국물용 마른멸치), around 3½ inches long, are used to flavor soups and stews.

Store in a zipper-lock bag or airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 year. Before using larger anchovies, remove the heads and guts (the black innards).

dried anchovies

Personally I like to eat the larger dried anchovies by themselves (after removing the heads and intestines, or course : )). I dip them in hot pepper paste and eat them with rice. Very delicious! The tiny bones of myeolchi contain a lot of calcium and are really good for you.

Myeolchi

Medium dried anchovies on the top shelf, and large anchovies on the lower shelf

Dried anchovies

Tiny little anchovies

dried anchovies

Myeolchi

Large dried anchovies

myeolchi

Recipes that use dried anchovies (mareun-myeolchi):

84 Comments:

  1. Florfy London, Ontario, Canada joined 10/17 & has 9 comments

    Hi Maangchi!
    Is it ever an issue for anchovies to become damp or soggy while you store them in the freezer? What can you do when this happens?

    Thank you if you respond! :)

  2. Zaya Switzerland joined 12/19 & has 1 comment

    Hi Maangchi,

    I bought Myeolchi Garu for making the anchovy soup base you make with dried anchovies, kelp, etc. Does it work? If so, how do I use it? Do you know the ratio by chance?


    See full size image

  3. scanese Asunción, Paraguay joined 10/18 & has 2 comments

    Hello Maangchi! Do dried anchovies go bad when stored properly inside the freezer? I have some that are about 10 months old and I’m not sure if I should already throw them away.

  4. Chocu55 Germany joined 9/18 & has 11 comments

    hello maangchi
    can i use anchovies powder for tteokbokki instead of dried anchovies? if yes how much powder for 7 anchovies?

  5. BeelzeBabe Finland joined 9/18 & has 9 comments

    Hi Maangchi! What could I do to replace the dried anchovies in this recipe? Unfortunately, there are no Korean stores in my area, and due to regulations, few Amazon vendors ship here. Dangnabbit! Do you think I might get a similar taste out of tinned anchovies, or perhaps a combination of fish sauce + fish stock cube?

    I love this recipe, it’s got everything you could possibly want – potatoes and onions and fermented veggies, and a good, tasty stock! Fishy bits or no fishy bits, I’m really looking forwards to trying this to keep the cold out this autumn. :)

  6. Berry Pearl of the orient seas joined 7/17 & has 3 comments

    Hi Maangchi! Are dried anchovies salty?

  7. peckish Lyon joined 3/18 & has 1 comment

    Hi Maangchi – I love your website and your cookbook, but I have had an impossible time finding dried anchovies. I finally found some in a Korean shop I just discovered in the nearby city (hooray!), and was excited to prepare them. But when I got home to my book and your website, they seem to be “the wrong size”, because all the recipes are for either the little ones (tiny little things) or the big soup ones, which are much bigger in the pictures, but mine are a little over an inch long, the middle-size. How should I use them? I can take their heads off, but when I try to remove their guts they just break into pieces, because they are very dry. What do you do with medium-sized dried anchovies? Maybe it’s best to use them for soup? Should I soak them forst so I can get the guts out? Thank you so much for your help, and for everything you teach us :-)

  8. ColbyLee24 NSW, Australia joined 11/17 & has 3 comments

    Hi Maangchi, I would like to know If I can use pre packed anchovy stock bag, approximately 10g, would this be sufficient to use in any stock recipe, or will it need more flavour?
    Thank-you Maangchi!

  9. adamchrissy UK joined 6/17 & has 2 comments

    Hi
    Do dried anchovies be cooked or heated before eating them as a snack?
    is it safe to eat them without cooking and what nutrients do they have when eaten this way?

  10. adamchrissy UK joined 6/17 & has 2 comments

    Hi
    Can you eat dried anchovies as they are as a snack or do you need to cook them in some way? What are all the nutritional values of eating dried anchovies as they are?

    Thanks
    Adam

  11. I have a finned fish allergy (but *not* a shellfish allergy) and would love to be able to make myself small fishless batches of the meals I make for my family. I’d love to know of an alternative that would help flavor dishes like your steamed shishito peppers and stews for my personal serving. With kimchis I substitute jars of the tiny baby shrimp for fish pastes and nobody seems to mind at all :)

    My husband is Korean, I’m not, but my family joins us for large holiday meals as well as random meals when we’re in the mood to cook a little bit more or have special requests. We are in Massachusetts and have a full size Hmart almost an hour from home that I go to but there are some other Asian supermarkets in the area if there are alternatives from other cultures, nowhere near the abundance of food markets that NYC or CA have though! :) Thanks!

  12. xiaomei88 Dallas joined 7/13 & has 3 comments

    How long can the anchovies be kept in the freezer ?????

  13. Vjnoi joined 11/15 & has 1 comment

    Bonjour Maangchi !

    I really love your website and recipes, they’re great !
    I wanted to ask you if there could be any vegeterian subsitute for dried anchovies ?
    Have a wonderful day.

  14. DeeFresh21 Texas joined 3/14 & has 1 comment

    Hello Maangchi !

    My nearby asian market only carries anchovy stock powder (it also contains Bonito). Can this also be used successfully in the recipes you posted?

    I tried making a stock with the powder but was doubtful how much to use so it will equal the anchovies you use.

  15. GooNi43 Davao, Philippines joined 2/14 & has 2 comments

    hi maangchi!
    i want to ask.
    Once the anchovies are used, are you throwing it after?
    like when you make broth, what do you do after using it?

  16. KrynauwOtto2 Pretoria, South Africa joined 9/13 & has 54 comments

    Hi Maangchi,
    I just bought a pack of medium dried anchovies and today while looking at it,the expiration date was 2012.09.09 I’m very disappointed! :(
    Do you think its still edible?
    Thanks!

  17. FrodoBaggins Toronto joined 9/13 & has 1 comment

    Hi Maangchi,

    Just got back from a month on the Korean Peninsula and I must say Korean cuisine is now one of my favourites! I have a question about large myeolchi. Is it really necessary to remove bones, heads and guts when cooking it (ie. For sundubu jigae and myeolchi bokkeum)? I remember the heads were always present and there was a crunchy texture (which I thought were bones) when I had myeolchi bokkeum as a banchan.

    Thanks, and am looking forward to trying out tons of your recipes in the future!

    Thanks,
    Jason

  18. fitXmom Florida joined 5/12 & has 21 comments

    I bought a bag of anchioves but it doesn’t say “dried”. Are they also okay for the broth for ddukbokki? They are not fresh either, they feel hard. I took a picture and I can post it. Where can I post the picture?

  19. seovero Hangzhou, China joined 6/11 & has 1 comment

    Hi Maangchi. I really appreciate all the recipes you show us and I’ve done somee of them! It was heaven ^_^. I wanted to ask about the anchovies, because back in my place, we rarely have korean groceries store, and it was far away. so I went to some market to find those anchovies. but they sell 2 kinds of dried anchovies, salty and unsalty. which one should I use?

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