Dried Fish with Ketchup
I was once offered these tasty little dried fish as a snack that we ate with ketchup and I have not been able to recreate the experience. Any help is welcome.
They were given to me by a American guy who grew up in Asia. The ketchup was how he ate them as a kid. He picked them up in Seattle and I didn't see the packaging. I am in New York City now and have access to the stores here.
I figure they were some version of the dried anchovies I see both in bulk and in snack packs in Asian markets BUT here is the thing...the ones I had were simple, more or less just salty and fishy (in a mellow good way). The ones I see in the snack packs seem to alway have added seseme seeds/sugar/corn syrup/etc and often look nothing like the delicious pure dried fish snack experience I remember. I have tried a few only to be disappointed.
Am I looking for the wrong fish? Should I be looking in the bulk fish? Do I need to hit a special kind of market, maybe Cambodian or something?
Thanks,
not
