Arroz Chaufa is Peruvian's version of Chinese fried rice. It is influenced by the influx of Chinese immigrants to Peru. Peru's fried rice version consists of rice, red bell peppers, green onions, red onions, garlic, soy sauce, scrambled eggs chicken and a dash of sesame oil, ginger, and cumin. Amazingly delicious and you probably already have all the ingredients to make this!
This post is long overdue. like months overdue. I came up with this recipe after ordering Peruvian food way too much! I was in love with their Arozz Chaufa/Peruvian fried rice. It really didn't occur to me to make my own fried rice until after like a million orders later. I could clearly see that there were peppers, green onions, eggs, and chicken in the Peruvian fried rice we used to always order. I could taste a hint of ginger, cumin, sesame oil and soy sauce. I also tasted onions, garlic, and cumin. I did a little research on Peruvian fried rice to see if the ingredients that I tasted was accurate. Thing is, Peruvian fried rice varies but a lot of the recipes I saw mentioned the same exact ingredients! I knew my taste buds wouldn't let me down.
Do you see all that deliciousness! This recipe is so flavorful and good! The first time I attempted to make Peruvian fried rice, I thought I would need four cups of rice but it ended up being too much and not enough egg. I only needed about 2 cups of rice. I like my fried rice to have a good amount of egg, so I settle for 5 eggs. Also, I am not a fan of a lot of soy sauce. I could tell the Peruvian restaurant I gave all my money to, didn't use a lot of soy sauce either. I can usually tell when it's too much. For this recipe, I only used ⅛ cup of soy sauce (the low sodium kind).
Arroz Chaufa is a super easy recipe to make and as I mentioned earlier, you probably have all the ingredients. The only con is that it requires a bit of prep work. However, if you want to prepare this a bit faster, keep reading below.
Preparations tips:
This recipe moves pretty fast so get all of your veggies diced and minces and in order.
Skinless chicken thighs is the preferred choice. They are full of flavor and they will taste amazing in this dish. If all you have is chicken breast, feel free to use that too.
If you want to save time, use prepackaged already diced peppers, garlic, and onion.
Mix all these ingredients together in a small bowl: Soy sauce, sesame oil, a pinch or two of sugar, couple pinches of cumin, ground ginger. If you prefer to use fresh. I would use 1 tablespoon. Do not add fresh ginger to the soy sauce mixture. We will be cooking the ginger for the rest of the veggies.
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Peruvian Fried Rice (Arroz Chaufa)
Ingredients
- 2 cups boneless/skinless chicken thighs diced into ½ inch cubes or chicken breast
- 5 eggs scrambled and then roughly chopped
- 2 ½ cups cold cooked white rice Cook the rice in chicken broth or chicken base like Better than Bouillon instead of water
- ½ cup onions diced small
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 whole red bell pepper diced I diced mine into small pieces
- ½ cup thinly sliced green onions plus the white parts
- salt and pepper for taste
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
Soy sauce mix
- ⅛ cup soy sauce
- ¼ tsp sesame oil
- 2 pinches cumin
- ¼ tsp ground ginger (only add it if you are not using fresh ginger) if using fresh, use 1 tablespoon and cook it with the fresh veggies
- 1 pinch of sugar
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the red bell peppers and onions. Saute until softened, about 6 minutes. Right before they peppers and onions are done add the fresh ginger ( if using fresh ginger) and green onions, Saute for a min. Add the chicken and carefully mix well and cook for a couple minutes or until cooked through.
- Add half the rice. Mix well then add the rest of the rice. Mix well. Add the soy sauce mixture. Mix well then add the chopped scrambled eggs. Toss. Season with salt and pepper.*See notes
Notes
- This recipe moves pretty fast so get all of your veggies diced and minces and in order.
- Skinless chicken thighs is the preferred choice. They are full of flavor and they will taste amazing in this dish. If all you have is chicken breast, feel free do use that too.
- If you want to save time, use prepackaged already diced peppers, garlic and onion.
- Mix all these ingredients together in a small bowl: Soy sauce, sesame oil, a pinch or two of sugar, couple pinches of cumin, ground ginger. If you prefer to use fresh add 1 tablespoon. Do not add fresh ginger into the soy sauce mixture. We will be cooking the ginger with the rest of the veggies.
Leona
Just tried this today and it turned out amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
April Boller Wright
Thank you!!
April Boller Wright
Thanks so much!!
Amber
Absolutely deeeelicious!!! Easy and Inexpensive. I add Some Portuguese Linguica to it as I had it for brunch! Best Chaufa recipe yet! Yum!!!
April Boller Wright
Thank you so much Amber! It's one of my fav rice dishes!
JW
This recipe is so easy and delicious. I want to make it again already!!
April
Thank you!!!
Caitlin H
Biggest compliment from my Peruvian Husband that I needed to share with you! He immigrated here 7 years ago from Peru and even though we live near lots of good Peruvian restaurants it kills him to pay so much for a dish he could make for next to nothing. He does all the Peruvian cooking in our house but I came across your recipe and decided to try it last night. He made sounds of approval the entire time he scarfed it down and when he finished I asked him if it was as good as our favorite restaurant and his exact words were “I haven’t had this good of chaufa since I left Peru!” HUGE compliment to you! Great recipe! Thank you!
April
Yay!!! That's the best comment ever Caitlin! Awwww thank you so much! Tell your husband, I said thank you too!
Connor
Love this recipe, have made it probably a dozen times! I'd been missing chaufa after I moved to a city that doesn't have any good Peruvian food.
Do you know what's in the Aji Verde green sauce that Peruvian restaurants often serve with chaufa? I've tried recreating it but haven't seemed to get it quite right.
Veronica
Try Herdez salsa verde and they have I’ve that’s guacamole salsa my personal favorite l, I enjoy putting it on my other yellow rice and beans.
Stephanie S.
How do you prepare the rice for this? Do you boil it and drain it or cook it down in the chicken broth?
April
Cook it down in the chicken broth. Add the cooked rice to pan. Spread it out. If I'm making the rice the same day for stir-frys, I'll place the pan of rice in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. If not same day, I'll refrigerate it overnight.
Peggy Lewis
This is a go to dish now. Thanks for starting me on this path. When I came back from Peru, I knew I had to find a way to bring some of the yummy food to my table! This recipe satisfies some of that need. I will admit to messing around with it now. I literally use it as a clean out the fridge dish. Any bits of veggies go in. I tried cabbage in it tonight like someone had asked. Yes! I do say it is important to use day old rice to not have a gummy dish. Also, I use the Thai method of cooking the egg right in the pan. After everything but the sauce, I move the veggies and meat to the side and cook the egg. To serve, we top with some Siracha for a bit of a kick.
April Wright
Peggy, I can relate. Fridge raid meals are popular in my home! I bet cabbage is delicious! I'll have to try it. Thanks for the great feedback!
Jason C
This recipe was on point! I did go with the fresh ginger, minced. For the chicken I used tenderloins, cut them to small pieces and I cooked at the beginning with salt and pepper, and set aside, and in the same pan cooked the red bell pepper and onions, and so fourth. Overall the ingredients were excellent. I topped with aji verde sauce and a sunny egg. Fantastic!
April
Thank you so much Jason :)!
Arun
Hi, many thanks for such lovely tips n dish to prepare.. Was awesome. can i add cabbage to this for my next time preparation.... Regards.
April
You're very welcome! Never tried it with cabbage but it sounds AMAZING! I actually plan on making a cabbage and chicken recipe soon. Stay tuned!
Jeri Waltrip
Made this tonight. Only change I made was to use riced cauliflower since husband is diabetic. Very good!
April
Hi Jeri. Glad you liked it! Thank you so much!
Daniel
Awesome recipe! Made is vegetarian and still came out great! The sauce is so good and what really makes this dish so good, I put a little less since I didn't add meat and that worked out great.