Hey look, I know it sounds wierd. Tasted really good, but I can’t argue with the wierdness. It works, just don’t tell anyone what it contains.
This wierdness came about because of one of those produce boxes that you can order on the internet, you know, the imperfect produce. Side comment, I do really love those boxes because it makes you get creative to use up produce that you thought sounded cool when you ordered it but you realize you have no idea how to cook. While I did know how to cook collard greens, my usual southern recipes would have resulted in an immediate coronary, so I tried to find something less.. deadly.
I’ve been meaning to try Dace with black beans in a veg dish because it is reminiscent of the salted fish Gai Lan that we used to eat all the time in Malaysia. Bit of nostalgia because it goes further back to when we were kids eating dried salted fish in the old country. Long story short, I saw a video from Chinese Cooking Demystified (GREAT CHANNEL, go watch it when you get downtime – I’ll link it below) about how Dace with black bean had become something of a stable in Cantonese/Hong Kongese cooking. It comes in the iconic yellow tin under the Eagle Coin brand and its available at ALL Chinese grocery stores. Not Korean or Japanese, specifically a Chinese gorcery store. I meant to try it with a typical chinese vegetable but found myself stuck with Collard Greens.
The thing with Collard Greens is that it is a tough vegetable. Leathery is the word that comes to mind. It is also bitter if not cooked well. So it is typically cooked with a ton of lard or pork fat in the most unhealthy way in Southern cooking. It really needs time and patience. Some of the recipes call for it to cook for hours to break it down and soften it. Newsflash, we never have hours to cook. So I subbed in the Instant Pot. Yes, at this point I’ve bastardized every part of this dish, its a bit unrecognizable. Still, it turned out great, give it a shot sometime.
Recipe
First half (Western cooking)
1 tsp -tbsp of pork fat
1 small onion diced
3/4 cup of chicken broth
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp of sugar
12-16oz of collard greens, stems cut out and leaves diced to bit size pieces
Second half (Eastern cooking)
Two cloves of garlic thinly sliced
a thumb of ginger sliced to matchsticks
Half a can of Dace (diced), a tablespoon or so of the beans and a bit of the oil
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tbsp soy sauce
Method :
Western Half :
– Heat instant pot on sautee function high heat. Use some oil, preferably pork fat (I had some rendered from a previous cook). Use between a teaspoon to tablespoon, how much ever your conscience lets you use.
– Add in the diced onion and cook down for a few minutes till browning starts
– Add in the a little of the chicken broth and deglaze
– Add in the apple cider vinegar, rest of the broth, and sugar and stir
– Add in the diced collard greens and roll it in the sauce
– Turn off sautee, click manual, 5 minutes, close and seal
– Natural release (10 minutes).
Eastern Half :
– add a little bit of oil in a skillet on medium high heat (grapeola or other high temp oil)
– add in the garlic and ginger and stir fry for a few minutes
– add in the cooked collard greens (dry, drain out the instant pot or simply use tongs to pick out of the instant pot).
– Add in the Shaoxing wine and let it sizzle for a bit
– Move the mixture to the side, then add in the diced dace and black bean and fry for a minute and then mix together
– Make some space in the center, pour in the soy sauce and let it fry for a few seconds then incorporate.
– Taste & Adjust, then off the heat.
Its not as bad as it sounds, trust me. And it tasted great. But I have a feeling this is going to be one of those that people will look at and go “yeah, thats a bit much”. If you happen to be stuck with collard greens, I’d highly recommend this very tasty recipe vs getting a heart attack.
Happy Cooking, and Happy Eating!
For your watching pleasure, here is the Chinese Cooking Demystified video on Dace w/ black beans :