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).
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.
Medium dried anchovies on the top shelf, and large anchovies on the lower shelf
Tiny little anchovies
Large dried anchovies
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! :)
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
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.
If they still look good, they should be ok.
hello maangchi
can i use anchovies powder for tteokbokki instead of dried anchovies? if yes how much powder for 7 anchovies?
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. :)
Hi Maangchi! Are dried anchovies salty?
Just a little.
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 :-)
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!
I’ve never used one of those bags, but you can probably use it. I’m not sure how much to use. Try it and let me know how it turns out!
I will have to give it a try :) I am very excited because I am going to my first proper Korean Grocery store in Sydney when I go on holiday!
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?
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
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!
How long can the anchovies be kept in the freezer ?????
Indefinitely. ;-)
Very long; I’ve got the small ones in the fridge and the ones for soup in an air-tight container in the pantry.
Bye, Sanne.
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.
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.
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?
I usually throw them out but I eat them sometimes, it depends on my mood.
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!
How frustrating!
If they don’t have mold and don’t smell bad, you still can use them. Otherwise, throw them away. Keep them in the freezer.
Thanks Maangchi!
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
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?
Oh, I wanted to add that my anchovies look just like the ones in your pictures and are hard, not squishy. The bag just says anchovies though.
Yes, that’s dried anchovies. You can use them to make anchovy stock.
Thank you!! You are SO nice!! If you come to Florida, I will love to meet you!! :)
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?
Unsalty is better because you can add salt anytime later. Large dried anchovies are good for stock.