Arroz chaufa (Peruvian friend rice)
We often eat at a local Peruvian restaurant in town. My oldest son’s favorite Peruvian dish is Arroz Chaufa con Pollo. Arroz Chaufa or Arroz de Chaufa is a Peruvian friend rice dish. The literal translation of fried rice in Chinese, is Chaofan, which gave way to the Peruvian word Chaufa. Also, in Peru soy sauce is called Sillao, which is the Cantonese word for soy sauce.
The first Chinese immigrants began arriving in Peru in the mid 1800’s…they were mostly Cantonese. The merger of Peruvian ingredients and Chinese-Cantonese cuisine gave way to what is now called Chifa food. And as my Peruvian sister-in-law says….if it’s not Chifa style, it’s not authentic Arroz Chaufa.
Arroz Chaufa is not super hard to make, it just takes a few steps to get it just right. All you need is rice, some vegetables, eggs and meat (chicken, pork or hot dogs) cooked at high heat in a wok. Since I don’t have a wok, I just used a big frying pan. This is a great recipe to use when you have left over rice and roasted chicken or pork.
Instructions:
Cut the chicken into strips and marinade for an hour with half of the garlic, half of the ginger some soy sauce.
Beat your eggs together. Add salt and pepper and scramble or make into an omelet and cut in cubes. Set aside.
In a large frying pan, brown the strips of chicken in some vegetable oil. About 3 to 4 minutes each side.
Remove chicken and let rest for a few minutes before cutting into cubes.
In the same pan, sauté the rest of the garlic, ginger, two thirds of the green onions and the red pepper in 1 tablespoon of oil for about 1 minute.
Add 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, and black pepper to the pan and sauté another minute.
Add your cubed eggs and chicken then add the rice into the frying pan and mix well. Add more soy sauce or salt if needed.
Once well mixed, remove from the heat, top with the rest of the chopped green onions and serve.
TIP: If you are making the rice from scratch, add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of oil to the water while cooking.
