''Chifa'' is a Chinese Peruvian culinary tradition based on

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

elements fused with traditional

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

ingredients and traditions. The term is also used to refer to restaurants that serve the ''chifa'' cuisine. Though originating in Peru, the ''chifa'' tradition has spread to neighboring countries like

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

through increased Chinese immigration. Chinese-Peruvian food has become one of the most popular types of food in Peru. The first Chinese-Peruvian fusion restaurants were opened in Lima in around 1920 in Lima's Chinatown (Barrio Chino). There are thousands of ''chifa'' restaurants across all districts of Lima and many more throughout other cities of Peru, with sometimes multiple independent restaurants operating in close proximity on a single city block.

Etymology

The majority of Chinese Peruvians have origins in southern China, where

is spoken. The Comisión Lexicografía de la Academia Peruana (CLAP) proposed that the word ''chifa'' is from Cantonese 食飯喇 (

Jyutping The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme, also known as Jyutping, is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed in 1993 by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK). The name ''Jyutping'' (itself the Jyutping ro ...

: ''sik⁹ faan⁶ laa³''), lit "to eat cooked rice" (''"comer arroz cocido"'') but usually meant "Time to eat eal. The term came to prominence in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

in the 1930s, when Limeños heard Chinese people using the expression "''chifan''" as a call to eat in the restaurants they ran. A similar

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

, '' chaufa'' (a ''chifa'' fried rice dish), comes from the Cantonese 炒飯 or ''chaofan'' (

: ''caau³ faan⁶''), meaning "fried rice".

History

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chinese immigrants came to Peru as workers. They came mainly from the southern Chinese province of

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

, particularly the capital city of

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

. For the most part, they settled on the coast of Peru and in the capital city of Lima. As the economic status of Chinese Peruvians improved, they imported a limited number of ingredients to produce a more authentic version of their home cuisine. Additionally, they began to plant a variety of Chinese vegetables with seeds imported from China. However, due to a lack of ingredients, they were not able to prepare their cuisine in the authentic manner of their homeland. Around 1920, the first Chinese Peruvian restaurants were opened in Lima, and they were given the name ''chifa''. Limeños were amazed by the bittersweet sauce, ''chaufa'' rice, soup, and other dishes. Wealthy Limeños became fascinated by ''chifa'', to the point where in some regions of the country there are more ''chifas'' than '' criollo'' restaurants. Peruvian chefs began to use products used in traditional Chinese cooking such as

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

soy sauce Soy sauce (sometimes called soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of China, Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermentation (food), fermented paste of soybeans, roasted cereal, grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''A ...

, scallions, and a variety of other ingredients which began to make their way into daily Limeña cuisine. There are different accounts on the development of ''chifa'' restaurants in Lima, such as the following:

Why is the Chinatown of Lima near the central market called Capon? Because on Ucayali Street pigs, bulls, sheep and goats were fattened to be made more appetizing. Near Capon Street there was a piece of land known as Otaiza, which was rented by a group of Chinese free of the ndenturementcontract, doing what they best knew how to do: cooking and merchanting (...) Capon turned into the birthplace of Chinese food and of the first Peruvian chifas, a blessing from the sky. Soon all of Lima comes to eat at ''Ton Kin Sen'', to ''Thon Po'', to ''Men Yut'', and to ''San Joy Lao'' where there was dancing to a live orchestra. Chinese restaurants became known as Chifa. For some this word was derived from the Chinese ''ni chi fan'' or "Have you eaten yet". Soon later would come the dish ''chau fan'' (fried rice), and finally, ''chaufa'', a dish that comes with almost every chifa meal.
– León, R., 2007 pp.134-136.

The history of ''chifa'' is deeply rooted in the development of the Chinatown of Lima, which has become focal point in cultural, artistic, commercial, and especially gastronomic interest. Chinatown is located near Capon Street in Barrios Altos, in the Historic Centre of Lima.

Cuisine

Peruvian ''chifa'' is distinct, due to its Peruvian cuisine influences. Like most Chinese food internationally and within China, rice, meat, noodles and vegetables are important staples to ''chifa''. ''Chifa'' is enjoyed by all socioeconomic levels, evidenced by ''chifas'' directed toward those with more disposable income, while ''chifas de barrio'' are directed towards a different social stratum. Currently, in the city of

there are over 6,000 ''chifa'' restaurants.

''Chifa'' dishes

''Chifa'' in other countries

Since at least the 1970s, Chinese immigrants have opened ''chifa'' restaurants in

, and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

References