Anchovy
Anchovies are small salt-cured fish that melt into sauces and add deep savory flavor without tasting fishy. How to use, swap and store them.
Also called Anchovies, Anchovy fillets, Ansjovis.
Anchovies are small, oily sea fish. In the kitchen the word nearly always means fillets that have been cured in salt for months and then packed in oil or in salt. They taste salty and intensely savory. Cooked into a sauce, they melt away and leave umami behind instead of a fishy taste.
How to use it
- Melt them. Warm the fillets in olive oil over low heat and mash with a spoon. They dissolve in 2 to 3 minutes. This is how they start pasta sauces, braises and lamb marinades.
- Mash them raw. Pound with garlic for Caesar dressing, salsa verde or butter for steak.
- Lay them on top. Whole fillets go on pizza, toast and salads, where their salty bite stays obvious.
Oil-packed fillets are ready to use. Salt-packed whole anchovies taste better but need work: rinse off the salt, soak in cold water for 10 minutes, pull out the spine and pat the two fillets dry.
Substitutes
- Fish sauce: about ½ teaspoon for each fillet in a cooked sauce.
- Anchovy paste: about ½ teaspoon per fillet.
- For a fish-free version, use a little white miso or chopped capers. The flavor is different but fills the same savory gap.
How to store it
Keep unopened tins and jars in a cool cupboard. Once open, move the fillets to a small jar, cover them completely with oil and keep them in the fridge. Use them within a couple of weeks. Fillets that smell sour or rancid should go in the trash.
In recipes
Swedish recipes say ansjovis, but this is a different product: sprats cured in a sweet, spiced brine. It is the fish in the potato gratin Janssons frestelse. True anchovies are too salty to swap in one for one. If you cannot find Swedish ansjovis, use about half the weight of anchovy fillets and add a pinch of sugar.
Anchovies are fish, so they are a problem for anyone with a fish allergy. They also hide in Worcestershire sauce and many Caesar dressings.
Recipes that use it
6 recipes from the sites we collect.
Related terms
- Fish sauceFish sauce is a salty, savory liquid made from fermented anchovies. It seasons Thai and Vietnamese food and adds depth to dressings and stews.
- UmamiUmami is the savory, meaty taste found in Parmesan, soy sauce, tomatoes, mushrooms and broth. It is one of the five basic tastes.
- CapersCapers are the pickled flower buds of a Mediterranean shrub. They add a salty, sour bite to pasta, fish, sauces and salads. How to use and swap them.
- Salsa verdeSalsa verde means green sauce. The Italian kind is herbs, capers, anchovy and oil; the Mexican kind is tomatillos and chili. Here is how to make both.
- Fish allergyA fish allergy is a reaction to proteins in finned fish such as salmon, cod and tuna. It is separate from shellfish allergy and labeled in the EU and US.