Serves: 4 | Time: 30 minutes
Chifa cuisine is a Chinese-Peruvian fusion of Cantonese cooking with locally available ingredients. It was brought by Chinese immigrants who arrived in Peru in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chifa cuisine is widely popular in Peru with over 6,000 chifa restaurants in the city of Lima alone. As many Peruvians settled in the US and Europe in recent years, chifa cuisine has followed them.
Arroz Chaufa (Peruvian Chaufa Rice) is the most popular Chifa dish. The name probably originates from Shú mǐfàn, Cantonese for cooked rice. Chaufa dishes are best cooked using a wok.
Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp grape seed oil
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 medium red pepper, seeded and chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 fresh ginger (1-inch / 2,5cm piece), finely minced
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin
- 1/2 cup (32 g) thinly sliced scallions + more for sprinkling on top
- 1 cup (100 g) thinly shredded carrots
- 1 cup (65 g) snow peas or green beans
- 1/2 lb (225 g) cooked or roasted left-over chicken
- 3 cups (550 g) day old cooked, left-over Basmati rice
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce or to taste
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil or to taste
- 1/2 tsp Aji Amarillo paste, or to taste (optional)
- 4 Tbsp cilantro or Italian parsley, roughly chopped to garnish
Preparation:
Whisk the eggs with a bit of salt. Heat 1 tablespoon oil until shimmering. Add the eggs and cook until well done, flipping half way through. Transfer to a plate and let them cool before cutting into ribbons.
Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a wok or deep saucepan over high heat. Add the red pepper and cook it for about 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, ground cumin, carrots, snow peas or green beans, half of the scallions. Continue cooking until all veggies are a bit softened and snow peas are a bit charred on the edges. Do not allow veggies to go limp. They will continue cooking when rice and chicken are added. Taste for salt and pepper. Add the chicken and stir well to combine.
Break up the cooked rice with your hands gently, so that grains separate as much possible and no big rice lumps are visible. Add rice to the chicken and veggies. Stir all well until all ingredients are well distributed and incorporated. Add soy sauce and sesame oil to your taste. Stir it again to mingle all flavors. Cook for about 5-8 minutes longer or until all is well warmed up. Adjust for seasonings if necessary and add the Aji Amarillo, if you like a kick. Just be careful, it imparts quite a bite to the chaufa!
Just before serving add the egg ribbons and sprinkle cilantro or parsley on top. Serve immediately.
