Sand Lance Fish Sauce

Kkanari are slender, silvery sand lances (family Ammodytidae) that live along sandy coasts. On the west coast they are caught small, in spring and early summer, when schools move north to the islands of Baengnyeong and Daecheong in the Yellow Sea. A 1999 report in the Kyeongin Ilbo puts their length at about 8 cm and their arrival at April to June. An island-culture column on Korea's government news portal points out that the larger fish sold on the east coast in winter as yangmiri are often in fact big kkanari, though true yangmiri is a different fish.

The sauce is made much like other Korean aekjeot. The fish, which have soft bones, are packed with salt at roughly three parts fish to one part salt and left to ferment in tanks near the shore. Producers interviewed in the same column say it takes at least a year and a half to become a good sauce. Baengnyeong's harbors are lined with storage tanks of aging kkanari, and the column's author suggests that island cooking tastes, in a word, of kkanari, since it goes into kimchi, seaweed soup, seasoned vegetables and braises and stands on the table as a condiment.

Baengnyeong kkanari sauce received a traditional food quality certification from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in 1995, according to the Kyeongin Ilbo. It is now sold nationwide and is a common alternative to anchovy fish sauce for kimjang. The same report suggests it in place of soy sauce in soups and in marinades for bulgogi.

• Savory depth from fermentation: Long salting breaks fish protein into amino acids, which is where fish sauce's savory taste comes from. A few drops can replace some plain salt while adding flavor.
• Very high sodium: About 8,800 mg of sodium per 100 g in the Korean Food Composition Table, roughly 450 mg in a single teaspoon (5 g). The FDA notes that adults are advised to keep sodium below 2,300 mg a day. Measure rather than pour.
• Fish allergy: It is made from fish and is not suitable for people with fish allergies, or for vegetarian and vegan kimchi.
• Kimchi salt balance: When swapping kkanari sauce for anchovy sauce or salted shrimp, taste as you go; sauces differ in saltiness from brand to brand.