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Quinoa "Chaufa" (Peruvian Fried Rice)

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Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Medium
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 3 people
Author: Lorena Salinas from Cravings Journal

Ingredients

For the quinoa

  • vegetable or olive oil
  • 250 g quinoa really well rinsed until the water comes out clean
  • 380 ml water or 1 1/4 times the volume of quinoa

For the fried wonton strips

  • 6 wonton wrappers
  • 200 ml vegetable oil to fry

For the chaufa

  • vegetable oil to cook
  • 3 spring onions / scallions
  • 2 garlic cloves grated, minced or puréed
  • 10 g ginger peeled and grated
  • 1/2 red bell pepper cut in cubes
  • 2 chicken breasts cut in cubes. Not too small so that they don't dry out
  • cooked quinoa from above
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 5 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce

For the fried eggs

  • 3 eggs
  • vegetable oil

Instructions

For the quinoa

  • Put a pot on medium heat and add the oil and rinsed quinoa and stir until it's hot.
  • Add the water and wait for it to start burning.
  • Once it starts boiling decrease the heat to minimum and put a lid on. Cook for 15-20min or until dry.
  • Remove the lid, fluff with a fork and let it dry out for a couple extra minutes. Reserve.

For the fried wonton strips

  • Cut the wonton wrappers in strips.
  • Heat up the oil in a pan (you don't need much oil) on medium heat (not high heat or they burn) and fry until golden.
  • Take them off the oil and onto a bowl with kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.

For the chaufa

  • Slice the spring onions thinly keeping  the white part separate from the green.
  • Put a wok or pan on high heat. If your burner is a bit slow give it some time to really heat up the pan before you begin.
  • Add vegetable oil and sear the chicken. Don't put it all in at once so that it can actually become golden instead of boiling away. We don't want to cook it completely but just sear it nicely. Reserve.
  • Add more oil if necessary and cook the white part of the spring onion, the garlic, pepper and ginger for half a minute to a minute. We don't want it to burn.
  • Add the chicken and quinoa and mix. Let it be still for a few seconds so the quinoa can become golden and then keep moving. Repeat about 6 times.
  • Add the sesame oil, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Mix and let cook for 2 minutes.
  • Finish by adding the green part of the spring onion and serve.

For the fried egg

  • To get a nicer shape on fried eggs you can open them up on a slotted spoon so the most liquid part of the egg white falls down and you're left with the most solid part.
  • Depending on how you like your fried eggs you use different temperatures: if you like it crispy and bubbly then fry it on a high temperature and if you like it white like me then cook it on a low heat and a bit more patience.
  • Serve on the chaufa and finish with the fried wonton strips.
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