Fried dace with salted black beans

Fried dace with salted black beans is a canned food of Chinese origin. Cirrhinus molitorella (dace) is a fish from the Pearl River in China ‘Dace’ is a trade name of Cirrhinus molitorella while black beans are called “dau si” or “douchi” in Hong Kong and Guangzhou respectively. Fried dace with salted black beans is made by combining dace with salted black beans and preserving it in oil afterwards.

Fried dace with salted black beans originated in Guangzhou in China. In the past,before industrialisation of China in the 1950s begun, many Chinese from the Pearl River Delta region needed to go to Southeast Asia for work. They would fry the dace, preserve it with salted black beans and bring it with them because they were not used to eating foreign food. This tradition gradually transformed into a canned food business. The first canned fried dace with salted black beans was produced by Guangzhou Guangmaoxiang Canned Food Factory in China in 1893. This factory was evolved from “广奇香罐头厂” (the Guang Qi Xiang Guan Tou Factory), which was registered in 1912 in Hong Kong. In 2005, the Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department tested 26 samples of food, in which some of the samples of the canned fried dace with salted black beans were tested positive for malachite green, a carcinogenic chemical.

There are seven essential ingredients in the canned product; namely fresh dace, salted black beans, vegetable oil, sugar, soybean sauce, salt and spices. The dace, preserved in vegetable oil, has a chewy texture with soft, edible, bones inside. It tastes well-seasoned with black beans and flavored with savory spices.

Fried dace with salted black beans can be eaten cold straight out of the can or heated before being served. Other classical ways are eating with stir fried green vegetables, noodles or plain white rice.

The packaging of canned fried dace with salted black beans is simple and general. The containers are oval shaped.

Fried dace with salted black beans has always been popular among the lower and middle income group. In the 1990s, low income households had to limit their expenditure on food. They could afford buying fried dace with salted black beans. Furthermore, the middle income group would also use it during emergencies (e.g. when strong typhoon signals are in force or during tropical rainstorm which prevent people from going out to eat). Nowadays, the price range of fried dace with salted black beans is approximately from HK$14 to HK$21 (by observing one of the biggest supermarkets in Hong Kong), which is relatively affordable. Thus, fried dace with salted black beans has been a common dish among lower and middle class before and is still considered as one occasionally. Even though people can afford to buy more nutritious food instead of menial canned foods after the economic boom in 1970s, people from different financial background will also consume this kind of canned food due to its convenience and cheap price.

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Wikipedia