#chaufa

Oh, querido chaufa, te observo en tus inicios, todo blanco y pálido, antes de comenzar mis vicios.

Con un poco de sillao, con un poco de pimienta, haces que babee de forma larga y lenta.

¡Y que falta el pollito! ¡Y que falta el huevito! No puede ser más exquisito si le hacemos un refrito.

The new normal. Masks to grocery shop. Provisions of delivered/curbside food and liquor 🥃 hauls.

Ever since we got back from our South American excursion, we’ve been obsessed with trying to replicate the flavors that we’ve tasted in these local Chifa restaurants in Peru. The fusion of flavors was quite expert so it was only natural that we wanted to figure out how to make it at home! For this week’s meal prep, one of the foods we made was chaufa, a Peruvian/Chinese fried rice dish. So what makes it Peruvian and what makes it Chinese? Obviously, the dish itself is that of Chinese origin (fried rice, duh). The seasonings, spices and ingredients are that of Peru. There’s an earthy taste to the fried rice and lots and lots and lots of umami. It’s all about layering flavors each step of the way. Though we certainly don’t know the secrets to the perfect chaufa, we experimented with something that worked for us and reminded us of all the great times we had in Peru. In an effort to continue the healthy streak though, I came up with a low-carb version that I ate throughout the week that’s just as flavorful. 

Ingredients:

Shrimp (peeled and de-veined). I left the tail on because it keeps the flavor. 

Pork tenderloin cut into thin slices. 

Eggs (2 or 3, honestly however much you want)

White Onion, diced

Green onions, sliced

Kale, chopped (if you want the low-carb version)

Rice 

Garlic, minced

Ginger, grated

Lemongrass

Peanut butter (trust us, just a teaspoon or so makes a difference)

Marinade for the shrimp and pork:

We’ll just be honest with you, we just kind of combined a lot of ingredients until it “smelled” close to the chifa we ate in Peru. Sometimes we pulled some non-Chinese or Peruvian ingredients to assist us (we’re obsessed with fish sauce)... but the end result was delicious. We marinaded the shrimp and pork with the same formula but in different bowls and left them overnight. You really don’t need to wait that long, but we ran out of time that day. In case you’re curious, here’s the marinade that worked for us:

Oyster sauce

Cumin (be generous)

Fish sauce

Maggi soy sauce

Salt

Pepper

Lemongrass

Grated Ginger

Fresh minced garlic

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Paprika

Cinnamon

Red chili flakes (optional if you like it spicier)

How we made our chaufa:

The key for us was to cook each item individually in the same pan on medium-high heat so as to not burn anything. We would move the pan on and off the fire so we don’t have any burned bits on the bottom and instead retain the flavor so the rice/kale could soak it up later. 

Cook the marinaded pork over medium-high heat until nicely caramelized. Once cooked, remove from the pan and place into a bowl. 

Sear the shrimp and be careful to not overcook it. Right when you add it to the pan, add the peanut butter and ensure that all the shrimp is coated in it.  Once it’s nice and pink and no longer gray/opaque, remove from the pan and place into the same bowl as the pork.  We’ll be throwing it back onto the pan for a bit later on.

Crack the eggs, mix it up, and scramble it up in the pan so it could soak up the sauce. Remember to season it with salt and pepper. Once it’s just cooked, remove it from the pan and add it to the bowl with the shrimp and pork. 

Now you’re ready for the rice/kale part. Add some oil to the pan and ensure it’s nicely coated. Throw the lemon grass, ginger, and garlic all into the pan and let it cook in the oil for a bit (only for 15-20 seconds until the fragrance hits your nose). Once you smell the nice aromas, quickly add the diced onions and cook over medium heat until the onions are soft. 

Once the onions are nice and soft, add the rice/kale to the pan and sear up until the rice is nicely coated with the fragrant oil. I added just a little bit of soy sauce to season it. It’s all up to preference of course.

Add the shrimp, pork and egg mixture back into the pan and stir-fry up!

Garnish with green onions and some red chili flakes (optional) to taste!