Anchovies are a family of small, common salt-water forage fish. In Southeast Asian countries, dried anchovies are known as ikan bilis. 

In Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, anchovies are used to make fish stock, Javanese sambal, or are deep fried. Ikan bilis is normally used in a similar way to dried shrimp in Malaysian cuisine. Anchovy is also used to produce budu, by a fermentation process.

(Source: Compiled from Wikipedia)