Stir Fried Anchovies (Myulchi Bokkeum)

This dish is a staple in most Koreans' refrigerator. It is easy to make, lasts for a while and can be eaten as a side dish with any meal. Also it is perfect for lunchboxes. Once you get over the weirdness of eating so many tiny fish in one bite it's really delicious. I know of a few non Koreans (like our husbands) who resisted this dish at first but now will eat a bowl of this stuff without rice as if it were just another snack.

Ingredients:
150g tiny dried anchovies
2 T cooking oil
1/2 ground ginger
2 T sliced garlic
2 T toasted pine nuts (we substituted with chopped walnuts and pumpkin seed and it was yummy)
1 T Korean cooking syrup
1 T sugar
1.5 t plum extract
2 T toasted sesame seeds

1. Heat a frying pan with the oil on medium heat. Add the anchovies and mix around for a couple minutes.

2. Add garlic slices, ginger, toasted nuts. Mix for another minute until the garlic and ginger is fragrant.

3. Turn off the heat. Add the cooking syrup, sugar and plum extract. Mix it around.

4. Turn the heat back on and stir for another 3-4 minutes.

 5. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.