Today I felt like eating something quick to make and that I could share with you guys as well. I didn’t have a classic Peruvian Fried Rice recipe on the blog and so I thought “THIS IS MY CHANCE”. This classic Peruvian Fried Rice or “Chaufa” is amazingly delicious and is done in a second. I love its flavours and I could eat a whole bucket of it.
This Peruvian Fried Rice is the product of the fusion between Chinese and Peruvian cuisines. The result is this amazingly tasty fried rice or “Chaufa”. It was born with the intention of taking advantage of the ingredients and leftovers (such as rice) that were in your house. Rie with things is always better than rice without things. I also have here on the blog a quinoa Chaufa if you want a carb-free version. Also, right below here is the video for that recipe which is practically the same as this one. You can use as a reference. The only thing that changes is that it’s made with quinoa (duh) and that I serve the egg fried whereas here I make an omelette, which is more classic. It’s really good for checking out all those tips:
Given that Chaufa was made to use leftovers and products we already have, that’s exactly what you should do. You can add sautéed veggies such as mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, peppers, cabbage, etc. Get creative with what you have at hand so that you don’t waste anything. My favourite addition I think are mushrooms because I just adore them :). What I do recommend is that whatever you add, make sure you make it nice and golden so that it goes with the rest of our dish. It’s a good idea to add them to the pan after the chicken. Get them nice and golden and reserve them to add them back again with the rice.
If you watch my quinoa Chaufa video, you will notice that I used a fried egg in that dish instead of making an omelette (which is more classic). The honest truth in my heart is that I like it much more with a fried egg that with an omelette. I’m really sorry if you’re a purist but I have to stay true to my heart (and stomach). Nothing compares to a river of yolk! Also, you will see that I added fried wonton strips to that Chaufa which are DELICIOUS but in the current social distancing context I have no access to wonton dough. I recommend them very very much if you can get them. Also, if you’re not adding a few drops of lime juice to your chaufa, you’re missing out!
Ingredients
For the rice
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1¼ cup water
For the egg omelette
- Vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- Salt and pepper
For the fried rice
- Vegetable oil
- 500 g chicken breasts or filets
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp sesame oil optional but recommended
- 3 spring onions / scallions only the white part, thinly sliced
- 3 spring onions / scallions only the green part, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves finely grated or chopped
- 10 g ginger peeled and finely grated
- ½ red pepper in small cubes
- Rice from above
- 5 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce optional but recommended
Instructions
For the rice
- **If you have rice leftover from another meal, now's the time to use it!**
- Preheat a small pot to medium heat. Add the oil and rice and stir for one minute.
- Add the water and when it breaks into a boil, reduce the heat and place a lid on it. Let it cook for 15-20 minutes or until there's no water left.
For the omelette
- Mix the eggs with salt and pepper.
- Preheat a small 20cm/8in pan to medium-high heat.
- Spread a bit of vegetable oil on the base of the pan and pour the eggs in.
- Let them cook until it looks about halfway done. Flip it and let it cook for a few extra seconds. Try to avoid drying it up.
- Chop the omelette up in squares.
For the fried rice
- Preheat a wok or pan to high heat.
- Drizzle a bit of vegetable oil and add enough chicken to cover the base of the pan. If you add more it won't become golden. Leave the chicken still so that I can become golden on one side, a couple minutes. Flip it and let them become golden on all sides. Then remove them and repeat with the rest of the chicken. Reserve them.
- Still on high heat, add approx. one teaspoon of vegetable oil, the sesame oil, the white part of the spring onion and the red pepper. Cook them mixing every once in a while until they turn golden.
- Add the ginger and garlic and cook them for 30 seconds while stirring to prevent them from burning.
- Add the rice, chicken, soy sauce and oyster sauce (stil on high heat) and mix.
- Now we're going to fry the rice a bit so the flavours evolve further. For this reason you want to stop mixing for a while and then stir. Repeat this about 6-8 times so the rice that's in contact with the pan becomes golden.
- Add the green part of the spring onion and the omelette and stir. Serve immediately.
