Ever heard of Chifa?
It is a type of cuisine that fuses Cantonese elements with Peruvian ingredients. Back in the 1900s, Chinese immigrants, mostly from Guangdong province, sailed to Peru to work as coolies.
Over time, they brought their ingredients & cooking ideas over to Peru as well. Peruvian chefs started to use elements like soya sauce, sweet-sour sauce, green scallions & ginger into their cooking.
And hence Chifa was born.
I am here at Singapore’s 1st Peruvian-Chinese restaurant, CHIFA, helmed by Chef Ruben Rodrigo Serrano Cabrera. The menu is short, but it offers a snapshot of the best of chifa dishes.
The Food
 |
| Roasted Pork Chifa! ($24++) (Recommended) |
We started off with something familiar to our palates - Chinese roasted pork, although this comes with chifa-style chilli, “Tamal de Arroz” dumpling & lettuce taco.
It's a very good roast, not much different in presentation and quality to the ones at good Chinese restaurants. The difference comes in the accompanying condiments - tangy diced red onions and umami stir-fried sambal (which reminded me of the sambal that goes on BBQ stingrays). An interesting combination to tickle your tastebuds.
In local context, the Tamal de Arroz dumpling is akin to sambal dried shrimp glutinous rice dumplings (or hae bee hiam bak zhang). Personally, I found it a little queer to marry this with the roasted meat, but again, good exposure to their eating culture.
 |
| Ee-fu Noodles Duck Roast ($23) |
We continued on familiar ground, trying out the ee-fu noodles with sliced roasted duck.
Typically, in Chinese eateries here, the lean meat of Peking Duck will be stir-fried with ee-fu noodles. The taste here is very similar to that, but it's a little heavier with the peppers. Yet it was not too spicy, such that my kids were still able to enjoy the dish.
So in essence, we get the "Chinese" flavours from the roasted meat, and the "Peruvian" flavours from the bell peppers.
 |
| Chaufa Sansen ($34++) (Recommended) |
We moved on to another carbo, this time trying the chaufa.
This is extremely interesting - a trio of wok-fried rice, quinoa, wanton noodles with meat (pork & chicken) and seafood (prawns & calamari).
Chaufa is something that I (and in all likelihood, you) have never had anywhere else. It’s a fried rice dish with the addition of quinoa or noodles, depending on the Peruvian region it is adapted from. The word "chaufa" comes from the Chinese word "chao fan" (炒饭).
Over here, they add in both quinoa and noodles - which makes for a varied texture. Quite tasty, although there's none of the wok hei we tend to associate fried rice with.
I'd say it's a very home-style Chinese stir-fry using fresh, top-end seafood.
 |
| Roasted Chicken a la Brasa ($30++ for half) |
This is Peruvian-style marinated chicken with crackers and pickles.
The fowl is roasted then drizzled with a spicy-tangy black pepper sauce. Tender-juicy, with a skin that’s just slightly crisp. The pickles seemed more Japanese rather than Chinese to me. These were served with crackers, just like they do in Chinese wedding dinners here.
Unfortunately, I think it's slightly overpriced at $30++ for this size and portion.
 |
| Wagyu Lomo Saltado Viru ($68++) (Recommended) |
Stir-fried wagyu beef with red onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, potatoes chicharron in saltado sauce.
This was my highlight of the meal. The wagyu is excellent with a robust beef flavour, and, being wagyu grade, the meat has a slightly buttery taste profile. The price tag is eye-catching of course, but for the quality and portion, this was worth it.
I like the sharp taste of the condiments in the lomo saltado, which makes an interesting contrast to the fattiness of the beef.
 |
| Broccoli Garlic ($16) |
Our veggies for the day - there weren't many fibre choices on the menu. Normal stir-fry, served its purpose but I do balk at the idea of paying $16++ for garlic broccoli...
In Summary...
All in, with a fun and modern deco, and a seating capacity of 122 (inclusive of 3 private dining rooms), it’s a place to consider for your next eating adventure.
My take on Peruvian-Chinese is that it's very relatable to the cuisine we are used, given that we are familiar with most of the ingredients used. The caveat is that the items I ordered were kids-friendly (less bold and safer), given that my dining party consisted of my two kids. I have heard good things about the Yellowfin Tuna Tamarind Ceviche and their Whole Fish Jalapeno Chili Style, which you can consider on your visit.
A small warning that prices here are on the steeper side, not too surprising given its location at RWS.
Address: 8 Sentosa Gateway #01-103 (Hotel Michael, RWS)
Opening Hours: 12pm to 3pm, 6pm to 11pm. Closed on Wednesdays.
Comments
Post a Comment