"It's just one of those nights." –Mom

Mom wearily started the rice cooker, tossed some veggies in the pan, and popped open a can of fried dace with salted black beans after a long day at work and shuffling Sis and me to our various practices and after-school activities. 

Dinner was served.

The canned sardines of Chinese cuisine, fried dace with salted black beans is best served straight from the can over a bed of rice. Because of its preserved nature, the bones have a soft, chewy texture, so you can eat them whole.

That was my FAVORITE aspect of the dish as a kid, being able to eat the bones. Often times I would try to pick off the meat and eat just the bones because it felt so delightful to eat something that can't normally be eaten—which in retrospect was a precursor to my love for gastronomically creative restaurants. One of my favorite dishes from Geranium was a razor clam with an edible shell. The joy I had in eating the shell of that clam is the same feeling I had whenever mom would serve this fishy dish.  

The origin of canned dace with salted black beans started in Guangzhou, China (or Southern China) when workers had to travel to Southeast Asia for work. They would fry the dace and preserve it in a salted black bean sauce to ensure it traveled well. This way they could eat food from home while commuting and living in foreign countries for weeks at a time. Eventually this grew and transformed into a canned food business, one that travels a little further than Southeast Asia and into the western markets. You can find the canned fish in any Asian market—it's a staple nowadays. And if you don't have an Asian market near you, there's good old reliable Amazon. 

When you do find it, stock up—it'll be your go-to lazy dinner soon enough.

Prep: 15 minutes | Cook: N/A

INGREDIENTS (FOR 2)

1 can of Fried Dace with Salted Black Beans

PREP

1. Prepare rice

2. Open can of Fried Dace with Salted Black Beans

3. Place fish on top of rice, pour sauce over the plate

EAT

I suggest making some stir-fry veggies on the side for a complete meal. I served mine with snow pea shoots which I fried up with simple salt and white pepper, then finished it with seasame oil.