This fried dace recipe with stir-fried leafy vegetables makes use of a beloved Cantonese ingredient that used to be known only to Chinese families, but recently went mainstream! (The New York Times/WireCutter included it on its list of The Best Tinned Fish.)
If you grew up with cans of Pearl River Bridge or Eagle Coin Fried Dace in Black Bean Sauce in the kitchen cabinet, you probably just cracked it open and ate it with leftover rice or porridge. This recipe isn’t much more difficult than that, but dolls it up and adds veggies for a complete, very tasty meal.
What is Fried Dace?
Fried Dace is made from a small freshwater carp (Cirrhinus molitorella), known as dace or mud carp. The fish is native to Southern China and parts of Southeast Asia, and can be found in large river systems including the Pearl River and Mekong River.
The dace is cleaned and deep-fried until very crispy, and then soaked in soybean oil and salted fermented black soybeans. The result is a texture that is very chewy, almost like fish jerky. As with anchovies and sardines, the soft bones are edible, contributing to the chewy texture!
Where Can I Buy Fried Dace?
Fried dace comes in an oval-shaped can, and is available at almost any Chinese grocery store. You can also find it from online Asian grocery retailers like SayWeee.
These days, you can buy fried dace with or without fermented soybeans, as well as other flavor variations if you’re lucky enough to find them! Our family has been enjoying it for years—since I was kid.
The brand I remember my family buying was Eagle Coin brand, with that iconic red and yellow label. That said, the brand labels all look pretty similar! These days, you can also find Pearl River Bridge brand (also a red and yellow can), which we used for this post. We love using their soy sauces.
For more information, see our post on Fried Dace.
Cooking with Fried Dace
We rarely cooked with fried dace, instead opting to just enjoy it out of a can along with a simple meal of rice and stir-fried vegetables.
If Judy and I were preparing dinner for the girls back in the day, and we needed a little something extra to round out dinner, we’d pull a can out of the pantry, pop it open, and set it on the table. Done.
Then, at a Sichuan restaurant in Beijing—near the Forbidden City—we saw this dish on the menu: fried dace stir-fried with AA Choy (also known in Mandarin as yóumài cài – 油麦菜). At the time, we hadn’t had fried dace in years (we definitely relied on it more during my childhood and when the girls were little), so we had to order it.
It was delicious—and ironic, since it took a Sichuan restaurant to re-acquaint us with a classic Cantonese ingredient. (We haven’t seen dace at any restaurant in the U.S.) Remembering that experience pushed me to recreate the recipe, and voila, here we are!
What Vegetables to Use for this Dish
In today’s photos of the recipe, we are using AA Choy, sometimes referred to as “A choy” and known as yóumài cài (油麦菜) in Chinese or simply “A-A cài.” (See our AA Choy Stir-Fry recipe for more info.)
It has a similar taste and texture as romaine lettuce, which is also a good substitute. AA Choy is a bit more tender and leafy, and has less water content and crunch than romaine, but either will work.
If you don’t like romaine or AA choy, you can use any Chinese leaf green for this dish. Some good choices are Chinese broccoli (gai lan), which also goes nicely with Fried dace. Any bok choy, including Shanghai bok choy or even the large white stemmed bok choy also works. If you like yu choy or choy sum, you can also use that, but you get the idea now. Use what you like, and experiment with it!
Recipe Instructions
Separate the leaves from the main stem of the vegetable (keep the stems, as they add contrast to the tender leaves). Thoroughly wash your leafy greens by soaking them in a large basin of water, agitating the vegetables to loosen any dirt. Repeat this process 1-2 more times, and shake off excess water. Cut the AA Choy into 3- to 4-inch (9cm) pieces and set aside in a colander.
Open the can of dace, and pour everything out (including the beans and oil) onto a plate. We used a whole can, but you can reduce to ½ a can if you like, as the dace and black beans can be salty. Using your hands or a knife and fork, shred the dace into 2- to 3-inch (5-7cm) pieces. Set aside.
Place your wok over high heat until it starts to smoke, and spread the oil around the perimeter of the wok, spreading it around to coat the surface. Add the garlic, immediately followed by the vegetables.
Stir-fry, ensuring the garlic is off the bottom of the wok and mixed with the greens. After the garlic is incorporated, gather the vegetables in the middle of the wok and cover. Cook for 30 seconds, and measure out the sugar and white pepper.
Remove the cover from the wok, and add sugar and white pepper.
Use a swirling motion to spread the AA choy around the sides of the wok and quickly add the dace, black beans, and oil.
Toss until everything is incorporated and the dace has warmed up.
Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary (though the dace is already salty), and serve!
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Recipe
Fried Dace with Stir-fried Greens
Ingredients
- 1 pound AA Choy or other Chinese leafy green of your choice
- 1 can fried dace with fermented black beans
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil such as canola, avocado, or vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
- ⅛ teaspoon sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
Instructions
- Separate the leaves from the main stem of the vegetable (keep the stems, as they add contrast to the tender leaves). Thoroughly wash your leafy greens by soaking them in a large basin of water, agitating the vegetables to loosen any dirt. Repeat this process 1-2 more times, and shake off excess water. Cut the AA Choy into 3- to 4-inch (9cm) pieces and set aside in a colander.
- Open the can of dace, and pour everything out (including the beans and oil) onto a plate. We used a whole can, but you can reduce to ½ a can if you like, as the dace and black beans can be salty. Using your hands or a knife and fork, shred the dace into 2- to 3-inch (5-7cm) pieces. Set aside.
- Place your wok over high heat until it starts to smoke, and spread the oil around the perimeter of the wok, spreading it around to coat the surface. Add the garlic, immediately followed by the vegetables.
- Stir-fry, ensuring the garlic is off the bottom of the wok and mixed with the greens. After the garlic is incorporated, gather the vegetables in the middle of the wok and cover. Cook for 30 seconds, and measure out the sugar and white pepper.
- Remove the cover from the wok, and add sugar and white pepper. Use a swirling motion to spread the AA choy around the sides of the wok and quickly add the dace, black beans, and oil. Toss until everything is incorporated and the dace has warmed up. Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary (though the dace is already salty), and serve!
