Sweet and Spicy Anchovies (Dilis)

Sweet and spicy dilis packed on traditional paper bag.

Sun dried anchovies is a common food found almost everywhere. It's a type of food that almost everyone reading this post grew up eating sun dried anchovies (dilis) as a part of normal  Filipino cuisine.  A fish known for its ridiculously small size requires no complicated preparation.  You basically cook everything with the gut, gills,tail and head intact. Frying it requires proper timing and right amount of heat from the stove. Removing it from the frying pan too early will make the "dilis" tough or gamy. Frying it further will also make it taste bitter. 

This is a P10.00 sweet and spicy anchovies measured on a jigger glass

Aside from being part of main meal, the sun dried anchovies (dilis) is also a common snack sold along the streets. I bought a sample of sweet and spicy anchovies (dilis) from the same food cart that sell sweet and spicy squid at Maceda St. Since the sweet and spicy anchovies is sun dried, you would expect a texture that's quite dry and gamy after it cooled off from frying. It's sweet from the caramelized brown sugar with a mild bite of spice from the chili at the end. The sample of sweet and spicy anchovies that  I bought is perfectly done with no bitter aftertaste. It has less odor than its dried squid counterpart. 

A closer look at the sweet and spicy anchovies