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Kkwarigochu Myeolchi Bokkeum (Shishito Peppers with Anchovies)Photo: 차차PD, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bokkeum · Stir-fried 볶음

Kkwarigochu Myeolchi Bokkeum (Shishito Peppers with Anchovies)

꽈리고추멸치볶음

Romanization: kkwarigochu-myeolchi-bokkeum

Small dried anchovies and wrinkled shishito-type peppers glazed in soy sauce and rice syrup — a sweet, salty, gently grassy lunchbox staple.

Serves
6
Prep
10 min
Cook
10 min

RegionGyeongsang

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Recipe

Ingredients · Serves 6

Method

Technique: Bokkeum: Korean Stir-Frying

  1. Step 1: Pull the stems off the peppers and rinse them. Pierce each one once or twice with a fork or the tip of a knife so the seasoning gets in and they don't burst; cut very long ones in half.

  2. Step 2: Shake the anchovies in a sieve to remove dust and broken bits. Toast them in a dry pan over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, until they smell nutty and feel crisp, then tip them out.

  3. Step 3: Heat the oil in the same pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and peppers and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes, until the peppers are blistered in spots and bright green.

  4. Step 4: Add the soy sauce, sugar and water, and simmer for 1–2 minutes so the peppers absorb the seasoning.

  5. Step 5: Return the anchovies to the pan, add the mulyeot and toss over low heat for about 1 minute, until the sauce reduces to a glaze that coats everything.

  6. Step 6: Off the heat, stir in the sesame oil and sesame seeds. Cool completely before storing; keeps in a covered container in the refrigerator for about a week.

Origin & History

Kkwarigochu is the Korean name for a small, thin-walled green chili with a crumpled, wrinkled surface — the same type sold in Japan and the West as shishito. Korea's food composition table lists it simply as the shishito variety of gochu. It is mild, tender enough to eat whole, and one of the green chilies the National Folk Museum's encyclopedia names among those most eaten in Korea today. Chili peppers themselves reached Korea around the late sixteenth century, first recorded in Yi Su-gwang's Jibong yuseol (1614).

Dried anchovies have a much longer place on the table. The nineteenth-century writer Yi Gyu-gyeong described dried anchovies as a daily side dish, and the folk encyclopedia explains that the smaller sizes — somyeol, jamyeol and the tiny semyeol — are the ones that are stir-fried or braised, while medium and large anchovies go into stock. Most of Korea's catch comes from the south coast, especially off South Gyeongsang, where the fish are boiled on board and then dried.

Pairing the two is a modern home-cooking classic. The national dictionary defines kkwarigochu-myeolchi-bokkeum as anchovies cooked in a soy sauce and rice syrup seasoning and stir-fried with kkwarigochu. The peppers add moisture and a fresh, vegetal note to the crunchy, salty fish, and because the dish keeps for days it suits dosirak lunchboxes.

Key Ingredients

Nutrition

Estimated, per serving (⅙ of recipe, about 45 g)
Calories~76 kcal
Protein~4.6 g
Fat~3.6 g
Carbohydrates~6.7 g
Fiber~0.9 g
Sodium~437 mg

Notable forVitamin C · Calcium · Vitamin D · Selenium

Anchovies use the Korean Food Composition Table entry “Anchovy, Small, Boiled and dried” (per 100 g: 226 kcal, 42.9 g protein, 620 mg calcium, 2,646 mg sodium, 17.2 µg vitamin D, 111 µg selenium); peppers use “Hot pepper (Gochu), Shishito, Raw” (57 mg vitamin C per 100 g, some of which is lost in cooking). Soy sauce and mulyeot use Korean table values; oil, garlic, sugar, sesame oil and sesame seeds use USDA FoodData Central. Totals divided by six. As a cross-check, the Korean table's prepared dish “Anchovy and pepper, Stir-fried” (멸치풋고추볶음) lists 262 kcal and 1,378 mg sodium per 100 g — denser than this lighter home recipe. Actual values vary with ingredients, portion size and preparation.

Health Benefits

  • Calcium from whole fish: dried anchovies are eaten bones and all, which makes them a notable source of calcium; the folk encyclopedia notes that eating the whole fish, including organs, also supplies vitamin D, which helps the body absorb calcium.
  • Protein and selenium: a small serving adds a few grams of protein and a useful amount of selenium.
  • Vitamin C from the peppers: shishito-type peppers are rich in vitamin C, though some is lost to heat.

Regional Variations

  • Soy-glazed: the standard version, with soy sauce, mulyeot or sugar, garlic and sesame — sweet, glossy and mild.
  • Same dish, either name: the national dictionary also lists it as myeolchi-kkwarigochu-bokkeum, with the words reversed.
  • Kkwarigochu-muchim: without anchovies — the peppers are coated in flour, steamed and dressed with garlic, sugar, soy sauce and gochugaru.
  • Plain myeolchi-bokkeum: the anchovies alone, stir-fried with oil, syrup and nuts; see myeolchi-bokkeum.

Sources

  1. 01꽈리고추 / 꽈리고추멸치볶음 — Urimalsaem (National Institute of Korean Language)
  2. 02멸치 (Anchovy) — Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture (National Folk Museum of Korea)
  3. 03고추 (Chili pepper) — Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture (National Folk Museum of Korea)
  4. 04Korean Food Composition Table: Anchovy, Small, Boiled and dried — National Institute of Agricultural Sciences
  5. 05Korean Food Composition Table: Hot pepper (Gochu), Shishito, Raw — National Institute of Agricultural Sciences
  6. 06Korean Food Composition Table: Anchovy and pepper, Stir-fried — National Institute of Agricultural Sciences

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