Most Korean soups and stews start from the same quiet broth: dried anchovies and a piece of kelp, pulled from cold water. Get this right and everything built on top of it tastes deeper.
Clean the anchovies
Pinch off the heads and pull out the dark guts; they are what turn a stock bitter. For a rounder flavour, toast the cleaned anchovies in a dry pan for a minute until they smell nutty.
Start cold, with kelp
Drop the anchovies and a palm-sized piece of dasima (kelp) into a pot of cold water. Starting cold draws the flavour out slowly instead of locking it in.
Pull the kelp early, then strain
Bring it to a gentle simmer. Take the kelp out after ten to fifteen minutes or it turns slimy and bitter, let the anchovies go another ten, then strain. You want clear and golden, not cloudy.
Eric’s tip
Make a big batch and freeze it in cubes. A clear anchovy stock in the freezer is the difference between a thrown-together weeknight soup and a good one.