Peruvian Arroz Chaufa: An Inside Look At The Most Loved Chifa Dish

In Latin America, there is a gastronomy that mixes pre-Hispanic flavors and became very famous due to one of its food: the ceviche. However, this dish is only the tip of the iceberg.

Peru is a South American country with the largest variety of typical dishes in the world, more than any other country. Dishes such as Papas a la huancaína, Mazamorra Morada, Ají de gallina, and Causa a la limeña, among others, are part of its extensive menu.

That is why today, we bring you an interesting post about a rice-based dish that mixes Peruvian flavors with cooking techniques from China: it is Chaufa rice.

Stay and discover this delicious Peruvian dish worthy of worldwide recognition!

If you’re looking for a tasty chaufa recipe to make at home and enjoy with your family, visit the CarolinaRice® website and discover more about this exotic cuisine style. Click the link above and make your Arroz Chaufa with the best Peruvian flavors and ingredients you can find.

What is Chaufa rice?

This dish consists of fried rice with vegetables, usually including spring onions, eggs, and chicken, cooked quickly over high heat, often in a wok, and seasoned with soy sauce and oil. Although, it can also be made with beef, pork, duck, seafood, fish, alligator, or jerky.

It is a dish that is part of the chifa cuisine, a style developed by Chinese immigrants in the South American country.

How can Chinese food be a national dish in South America?

To answer this question, we only need to go back quite a few decades. In the middle of the 19th century, thousands of Chinese immigrants arrived in Peru to work in cotton plantations. When they settled in Peru, they took with them many of their recipes and customs, creating new ones such as chaufa rice, kamlu wantan, and some people say even sautéed pork loin.

In Peru, these dishes of Chinese origin are called ‘chifa’, because ‘Eat rice’ in Chinese is Chī mǐfàn, so Peruvians heard this phrase and soon adapted it as ‘chifa’.

Is there only one Chaufa Rice recipe?

No. Chaufa rice can be made with different ingredients and they may vary according to the region where it is made.

Some of the various chaufa rice recipes are:

• Chaufa amazónico: it’s made with ingredients from the Amazon region in Peru. This variety includes cecina (a salted dried meat) and sweet plantains.

• Arroz Chaufa Taypa: it’s very common in coastal areas, which consists of rice sautéed with a mixture of seafood with sesame and soy, with beef filet and shrimp tails.

• Arroz Chaufa Salvaje: it’s the same base as Chaufa Rice but with the addition of vegetables such as broccoli, green and red peppers, Chinese cabbage, and delicious bean sprouts,

• Aeropuerto: it is not made with rice, but with noodles, and has the same basic ingredients as the traditional Chaufa Rice and is part of the Chifa cuisine.

Facts and curiosities you should know about this style of cooking

• Chinese food is only called chifa in Peru: it is believed that this uniquely Peruvian term originates from the Cantonese phrase mentioned above.

• The first Chinese-Peruvian fusion food restaurants opened in Lima around 1920: they were given the name chifa and, from that moment on, Peruvians fell in love with this amazing culinary coupling. Although chifa is purely Peruvian, Chinese immigrants have since opened chifa restaurants in neighboring countries.

• Chifa restaurants are not the only places serving chifa in Peru: You don’t have to go to a specialized chifa restaurant to taste the most delicious dishes of this style of cuisine. It can be found everywhere, in almost all provinces of the country.