Arroz Chaufa: Peruvian Fried Rice

I have been immersed into the world of Peruvian cooking... thanks to my husband's family being missionaries in Peru. And, let me tell you, Peruvian food is tasty.

I used to think Lukas was biased when he talked about how great Peruvian food was. I figured that, having grown up there, he was just partial to it. This may be true, but I have since discovered firsthand how delicious Peruvian food really is. I have had the opportunity to try a variety of Peruvian dishes made by Lukas' family and in a Peruvian restaurant we found in Tulsa. We have tried making a few of these dishes at home, and I look forward to trying more in the future!

In fact, come to find out, Peruvian food has been rated in culinary circles as one of the top countries for unique cuisine. There are hundreds of dishes unique to Peru. The recipe below is for arroz chaufa, which is a Peruvian fried rice. This particular dish has significant Chinese influence, but with a bit of a Peruvian twist.

I still remember the first time I tried arroz chaufa. Lukas and his sister, Lynea, made the dish for me when Lukas and I were dating, and I remember them huddled in the tiny dorm kitchen attempting to make a culinary masterpiece. Cooking anything as a college student is always a challenge given the lack of cooking supplies and space, but they did a great job. Now Lukas and I can make this at home (thankfully, we have a little more space to work now in an apartment than we did in a dorm kitchen)!



Arroz Chaufa

• 1 large chicken breast
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/3 large onion
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 square inches ginger root
• 3 cubes chicken bouillon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• Soy sauce
• 3 green onions
• 1-2 small carrots
• 1/3 bell pepper
• 1/3 cup frozen peas
• 2 cups rice (2 cups precooked)
• 2 eggs
• Optional: extra onion and several limes for topping

Directions

Start cooking rice. For two cups of rice, we cooked with 2 3/4 cups water in our rice maker. If you don't have a rice maker, you can easily cook it on the stove.



Cut the chicken breast into bite size pieces. Mince garlic and ginger root. Cut up onion into small pieces. Cook chicken, garlic, ginger and onion on the stove in a large pan, along with cumin, chicken bouillon, salt and pepper. You can also add a small amount of soy sauce at this point.



Cut up green onions, carrots and bell pepper. Steam briefly with a little bit of water to soften the vegetables. We just put the vegetables in the microwave briefly.



Add onions, carrots, bell pepper and peas (if the peas are still a bit frozen they will defrost quickly on the stove) to the meat. Add cooked rice to the mixture. Stir everything together. Add a little more soy sauce to flavor. Ideally, you want some soy sauce flavor, but not too much (so that you can taste all the other distinct flavors).

Fry two eggs in a separate skillet and chop into small pieces. Mix egg pieces in with the rice, meat and veggies.



And it's all ready to eat. If desired, you can squeeze several limes and mix with chopped onions for a topping for arroz chaufa. This is the typical Peruvian way to eat it; my husband loves it, but I usually skip that part--I think it has plenty of flavor without it. If you choose to make the sauce, just keep it in a separate dish from the rice, that way you can add it as desired. A little bit of the sauce goes a long way.



Enjoy this taste of South American cuisine!