Who wouldn’t like something sweet, crunchy, & nutty?! Today’s recipe, myeolchi-ttangkong-bokkeum is exactly that: stir-fried dried anchovies and peanuts. It tastes like a sweet, salty, crunchy snack.
This is one of the most common and popular side dishes for Korean lunch boxes (dosirak), and almost every family has its own recipe for it. Sometimes chopped green chili peppers are added, to make it spicy or Korean gochujang (hot pepper paste) is added. If you want to add hot pepper paste, just add 1 tablespoon hot pepper paste to the seasoning sauce.
This version includes peanuts because I found out the crunchy and nutty peanuts are something special. You have a peanut allergy? Then you can leave them out or replace them with your other favorite nuts such as sliced almonds, walnuts, and/or pecans. If you skip the peanuts, the dish name will change to myeolchi-bokkeum because ttangkong (peanuts in Korean) is removed. : )
In the old days, myeolchi-bokkeum tended to be saltier because we added more soy sauce or hot pepper paste, but I use less salt for this version. It still tastes a little salty because the dried anchovies by themselves are a little salty.
This is a kind of mitbanchan, or preserved side dish, that you can keep in the fridge for up to one month. Like I do in the video, you can make it ahead of time and then take it out and combine it with different side dishes and rice to quickly make a well-balanced, delicious meal. You can serve it as a side dish with rice and also it will be a good side dish for beer!
Ingredients
- 1 cup tiny dried anchovies (2 ounces: 60 grams)
- ½ cup roasted peanuts (or walnuts, sliced almonds, or any of your favorite nuts), optional
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 tablespoon brown (or white) sugar
- 1 teaspoon rice syrup, optional
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Directions
- Put the dried anchovies in a colander. Shake and toss them so that the smallest bits and broken pieces fall through.
- Combine the soy sauce. water, sugar, and rice syrup in a small bowl. Mix well.
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add vegetable oil. Add the garlic and stir with a wooden spoon for 10 seconds.
- Add the anchovies and peanuts. Turn the heat down to medium and stir for a few minutes, until the peanuts and anchovies turn light brown and crunchy.
- Push the anchovies and peanuts to the edge of the skillet. Remove from the heat and add the seasoning mixture to the cleared out-spot. The skillet will still be plenty hot enough, so gently stir the seasoning with a wooden spoon until is starts bubbling.
- Mix the seasonings with the anchovies and peanuts until they are well coated.
- Stir in the sesame oil and sesame seeds.
- Serve right away with rice, or let it cool down and transfer the anchovies to an airtight container. You can keep them in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
For some reason mine turned out quite chewy! The only thing I changed was that I used maple syrup instead of corn syrup (which isn’t widely available here in the UK) so perhaps using a different syrup affected how they turned out? Or maybe I didn’t fry them for long enough or at the right temperature, who knows?!
They still taste good, they’re just not quite the crunchy snack I was looking forward to!
I don’t think the issue lies with the maple syrup you used. To achieve the crispy texture you desire with the anchovies, I would suggest frying them for a longer time over medium heat, being careful not to burn them. Happy cooking!
You’re right – before I saw your reply I decided to try to “dry them out” a bit by cooking over a very low heat for about 5 mins, then I left them in the pan as it cooled for about 20 mins, and they were much crunchier after that! So I probably did just need to cook them longer. I was worried about overcooking after reading some other comments but I think I may have been too cautious.
I will definitely be making them again, but will cook them a little longer next time!
I bought small anchovy but not the really small ones. Do I have to worry about the intestine removal in the smaller sized anchovy? Should I remove the heads or is it fine to leave them on?
It depends on how small they are, but you can probably eat them whole.
Incredible recipe!
Can not wait to try it!
I made Myeolchi-ttangkong-bokkeum: 멸치땅콩볶음 Maangchi ‘s recipe.
I need to confess I had not great expectations with this dish.
In Spain is strange to mix salty fish & sweet at the same time…
But when I tasted it… OMG…. This dish is AWESOME!
Thank you Maangchi ♥♥♥
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It looks sweet and crunchy and nutty! Yum! : )
Hi Maangchi ssi.. I just made this anchovy side dish today.. They are delicious.. I mixed small and medium anchovies, used brown sugar and gochugaru instead of gochujang, and added peanuts to add some crunch.. Yummy Yummy Bong Bong.. I am going to send some to my husband’s Korean friends.. together with the spicy dried squid side dish from your recipe as well.. Thank you for teaching us easy authentic Korean food ^o^
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I made 5 cups of anchovies and 1 cup of fried peanuts ^o^
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It looks great Ermin Fei! I’m sure your husband’s Korean friends enjoyed your myeolchi-bokkeum!
Maangchi – I love love love this…. I used brown sugar instead of white sugar and I made the spicy version. For those having a problem with the anchovies sticking together, I guarantee you it is because they are cooking the sauce too long and causing the sugar to crystalize like candy. I found it needed a little more water too. And I added chopped green onion. This is the first time i’ve eaten anchovies like this and I can tell you I’m going to be hooked! It will NOT last 2 weeks in my fridge. Thank you dahling :)
Great! Thank you for the tips for my other readers!
Hi Maangchi,
I’m a lady engineer from Sri Lanka..
I love you cooking style Maangchi… Wanna watch at least once a day, otherwise i feel bored… will try and let you know how they taste soon.. (after my sis’s exams are over, I will start cooking your dishes)
Bless you…
Something to do with my anchovies!!! Oh my this is good! I made the spicy version, kind of. I didn’t have the paste so I mixed some red chilli pepper and flour in there, and I used maple syrup instead of corn syrup. It didn’t make it into my refrigerator! :-P
Thank you, Maangchi!
Wow, Maangchi! Great recipe. I have to say, the quality of the Gochujang matters. I used one brand the first time I made this, and it was very grainy flavored, and I switched brands and much different, much more tasty! Wonderful recipes!
Thank you so much for this great recipe. I’m so lucky to have found you here. I used tiny dried shrimps and they taste even better because it’s less chewy and much cheaper too. The only bad thing about it is that I finish them even faster…..Thank you Manngchi!
Great!
Could you help me ! I finished this small fish, however the fish stick together ?
Can’t separate !
how should I do ?
Thanks !
oh, use less sugar or syrup. : )
Maangchi,
All I can say about 멸치볶음 is that it is super easy and quick to make, mouthwateringly delicious and very addictive! I don’t know how it could last 2 weeks in my refrigerator because it is sooooo good!
감사합니다!
Dave
Hi Dave,
You are more and more getting into Korean cooking as time passes! Now it sounds like you make all side dishes very easily and fast! Congratulations!