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This can may look familiar to you when you escort your mom in the supermarket. No one calls it by its brand nor its Cantonese name but you just know it’s fish.
This oval-shaped tin can is a must-have pantry item in most Filipino-Cantonese homes. It’s like your go-to comfort canned good when you don’t feel like cooking meals. You just pop it open and enjoy it with steamed or fried rice, and your meal is good.
They call it fried dace in English but according to some, this is a mistranslation as ‘lengyu’ is actually a mud carp.
In most markets around the city, they sell two versions, the can with and without tausi (fermented black beans). Dausee Lengyu originated from southern China in Guangzhou, home of many Chinese immigrants across the globe. Many Chinese workers from this Pearl River Delta region moved out of their country and relocated in Southeast Asia starting in the 1950s. They needed an easy satisfying meal that would suit their appetite before going to work and so they would fry the dace, mix it with fermented black beans.
Over the years, it has grown into a canned food business spreading across Southeast Asia and in the United States. The first canned fried dace with salted black beans was produced by Guangzhou Guangmaoxiang Canned Food Factory in China in 1893. This factory evolved from “广奇香罐头厂” (the Guang Qi Xiang Guan Tou Factory), which was registered in 1912 in Hong Kong.
Dausee Lengyu is tad salty (contributed by the fermented black beans) with a slight burnt smoky flavor. The fish (dace) is preserved with vegetable oil which has a chewy texture with soft bones you can chew.
One way to serve this dish if you feel like combining it with other ingredients, is to sauté Chinese cabbage and mix it with the dace. It is a very simple and straight forward recipe.
I personally like the basic taste of this canned item with my steaming hot rice. It reminds me of our grandparents, father, and relatives who used to purchase numerous cans in one shopping to store it for many months.
I know two stores still selling canned fried dace – Victoria Supermarket and Luisa’s Café in Session Road.
