everything alex cooks

honey walnut myeolchi

my favorite banchan in the Banchan Bible.

Korean

Banchan

April 2, 2021

last updated: March 3, 2025

honey walnut myeolchi
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honey walnut myeolchi

Recipe by AlexCuisine: KoreanDifficulty: Easy
Servingsservings
Prep time

5

minutes
Cooking time

4

minutes
Total time

20

minutes

Ingredients

  • 12 oz raw walnuts

  • 12 oz dried anchovies

  • From your pantry:

  • 4 tbsp olive oil (or neutral oil)

  • Garlic salt

  • Garlic powder

  • Oligodang or Honey

  • White sesame seeds

  • 1 tbsp Mirin

  • Spicy variation

  • 1 tbsp soy sauce

  • 2-3 tbsp gochuchang

  • 1 tbsp oligodang (can substitute honey, or any sweet syrup)

  • 1 tbsp sugar

Instructions

  • Add anchovies into a colander. Shake to discard anchovy “dust.” Set aside anchovies. Then repeat with walnuts: add walnuts to colander and shake to discard walnut “dust.”
  • “Easy Life” Skill #1 — “Shake and Discard” — Shake to discard small broken pieces and “dust.” Small pieces and “dust” cause uneven cooking and will quickly burn otherwise.
  • In large pan with high walls, heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium heat. Once glossy, add anchovies. Scoop and toss.  Fry until anchovies take up slightly golden color (~5 minutes). Remove anchovies from and set aside.
  • “Easy Life” Skill #2 — “Scoop and Toss” — Use two large cooking utensils (such as two large cooking spoons). Hold utensils on opposite sides of the pan (e.g., one utensil at 3 o’ clock and the other at 9 o’ clock.) Bring the utensils towards the middle to scoop and toss ingredients towards the front of the pan. If you do not continually scoop and toss, the ingredients will burn.
  • In the same pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium heat. Once glossy, add walnuts. Scoop and toss walnuts until golden (~2 minutes).
  • Turn off the heat, but keep the pan on the stove. Return the anchovies to the pan. Add pantry seasonings (garlic salt, garlic powder, oligodang).
  • If you are making the spicy variation, mix soy sauce, gochujang, oligodang, and sugar. Add this spicy sauce to the pan. Sprinkle sesame seeds to lightly coat. Add mirin to the pan to deglaze. Deglazing helps reconstitutes the browned bits (and any sauce stuck to the pan) back into the anchovies. (Deglazing also helps clean the pan.) Toss and serve immediately.
  • Use ingredient measurements as a starting point. Add more seasonings and spice to your taste.
  • Voila fish and nuts! Store out on counter at room temperature or 2-3 weeks.

Notes

  • If you are making the spicy version, the spicy gochujang sauce will make more than you need. You can store the excess in the refrigerator and eat with bibimbap, use in any stir fry, or add your gochujang eggplant pasta.

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non-negotiables

  • steel cut oats – using a combination of different grains enhances the texture of the oatmeal. Steel cut oats do not entirely cook through compared to the buckwheat.
  • white miso – miso varies by salinity and fermentation time: white > yellow > red > brown. White miso subtly enhances sweet dishes, adding a butterscotch flavor. 

try experimenting with

  • frozen banana – I’ve noticed the banana flavor is intensified when I add a frozen instead of fresh banana to the mush. 
  • buckwheat – if buckwheat is hard to come by, then feel free to opt for your whole grain of choice or on hand. Toast the whole grains in the same fashion, but adjust cooking time.

extra ingredients?

  • Extra miso? Cook the Tofu (see “miso brown butter x black pepper crispy tofu” on the blog).

(fried dried anchovies) 

my favorite banchan in the Bible (and 2nd favorite banchan of all time)

Servings: a school of little fishies

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

4 tbsp olive oil (or neutral oil)

12 oz raw walnuts

12 oz dried anchovies

From your pantry:

Garlic salt

Garlic powder 

Oligodang or Honey

White sesame seeds

Optional: 2-4 tbsp gochujang sauce*, MSG

*gochujang sauce: 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2-3 tbsp gochuchang, 1 tbsp oligodang, 1 tbsp sugar (this will make more than you need. You can store the excess in the refrigerator and eat with bibimbap, use in any stirfry, or add your gochujang eggplant pasta). 

Recipe:

1. Add anchovies into a colander. Shake to discard anchovy “dust.” Set aside anchovies. Then repeat with walnuts: add walnuts to colander and shake to discard walnut “dust.”

“Easy Life” Skill #1 — “Shake and Discard” — Shake to discard small broken pieces and “dust.” Small pieces and “dust” cause uneven cooking and will quickly burn otherwise.

2. In large pan with high walls, heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium heat. Once glossy, add anchovies. Scoop and toss.  Fry until anchovies take up slightly golden color (~5 minutes). Remove anchovies from and set aside.

“Easy Life” Skill #2 — “Scoop and Toss” — Use two large cooking utensils (such as two large cooking spoons). Hold utensils on opposite sides of the pan (e.g., one utensil at 3 o’ clock and the other at 9 o’ clock.) Bring the utensils towards the middle to scoop and toss ingredients towards the front of the pan. If you do not continually scoop and toss, the ingredients will burn.

3. In the same pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium heat. Once glossy, add walnuts. Scoop and toss walnuts until golden (~2 minutes). 

4. Turn off the heat but keep the pan on the burner. Return the anchovies to the pan. Add pantry seasonings (garlic salt, garlic powder, MSG, oligodang) and gochujang sauce. Sprinkle sesame seeds to lightly coat. Toss and serve immediately. 

Use ingredient measurements as a starting point. Add more seasonings and spice to your taste. 

Voila fish and nuts! Store out on counter at room temperature or 2-3 weeks. 

See recipe development for myeolchi banchan here.

If you decide to cook some myeolchi, please tag me @everythingalexcooks,

(and I mean actually tag me, the new IG update doesn’t notify me when I simply get mentioned in a caption).

I want to see your creations and hear your thoughts!

Test #5, March 29, 2021 – Myeolchi banchan is my second favorite banchan overall and is my favorite in the Banchan Bible. (My favorite banchan is gosari namul: wild fernbrake.) I will eat myeolchi like potato chips, snacking on them mid-day. There’s always a container that sits on our kitchen counter.

My grandma normally makes a non-spicy version so that my mother can tolerate it. My mother’s gut cannot tolerate any spice; I think her Korean card should be revoked. While I have a hard time with Indian, South East Asian, and Mexican spice, I love Korean red pepper spice. I think other cuisines have a more back-of-the throat burn or whole mouthfeel heat while Korean spice turns toward the front of the palate. I told my grandma that we should add gochugaru to the myeolchi as Korean restaurants and markets do.