Chofan is an amazing rice dish that doesn’t always get enough shine despite it being a fan favorite. Chofan is a Dominican Style Chinese Fried Rice that’s bold on flavor and can honestly feed a village. You can make this dish from scratch or whip it together with leftovers from last night’s dinner. It’s honestly up to you. Bear in mind that Chinese Fried Rice is popular on its own so it doesn’t surprise me that other cultures have put their own spin on it. In fact, one of my favorite versions of Chofan is Peruvian Chaufa, which is also bold in flavor. I love it when it gets served with Peruvian hot peppers and I always end up asking for more!
Now Chofan is a truly free-styled dish. So many people make it so different that it’s hard to find two homes that make Chofan exactly the same. I personally love adding ham and my boyfriend’s mom adds bean sprouts and shrimp to hers. There are some people who add peas and celery and others who omit the scrambled egg completely. The choice is really up to you. I’ll admit, that even I will change it up depending on what I have in the house. Nonetheless, this fried rice dish is an instant favorite! I can’t go more than two weeks without making this blended rice before my sister starts sending me hints… “Hey… so… um… any chance you Arroz Chino for dinner?”
Chofan also goes by a variety of different names. It’s commonly referred to as Arroz Chino, Chofan, or Chow Fan. Regardless of what you call it, know that a yummy (and addictive) rice is sure to come! Now before we dive into this delicious Chofan Recipe, I do want to share some quick tips:
Tip #1: When making the rice, try your hardest not to overcook the rice. You don’t want your rice to be mushy because you’re going to be adding soy sauce to it later. If you start with mushy rice, it will be harder to dry it once we start frying it up with the meats and veggies
Tip #2: Lightly season the chicken! Remember, we’re going to be adding soy sauce to this so you don’t want to make your chicken salty from the beginning. You also don’t want it to be entirely bland. Adding a small amount of seasoning salt will be perfect. I also like adding some powdered ginger to add depth of color
Tip #3: If you’re worried about the sodium in this dish, use low sodium soy sauce so that your rice isn’t jammed packed with salt. I typically only have low sodium soy sauce in this house for this very reason. I never want to risk getting carried away
Tip #4: Add scallions and eggs at the very end just before you’re about to serve this dish. You can make this rice ahead of time, especially if you’re serving this at a dinner party. However, you want to wait until you’re just about to serving it to guests to add the scrambled and scallions. If you add the eggs too early, your eggs will become rubbery and unappetizing. Furthermore, I like adding the scallions at the very end to give the rice more texture and crunch
Tip #5: Feel free to stretch this dish out by adding more rice than what the recipe calls for. You can keep the amount of chicken and ham the same but add more rice so that it will feed more people. This will help you feed a village yet save on money!
Don’t miss this awesome video on my YouTube Channel: Chef Zee Cooks where I show you How To Make Chofan Dominicano | Arroz Chino
Make sure to Pin this yumminess to you Pinterest boards!
Ingredients
- 2 Chicken Breasts
- ½ lb Smoked Ham
- 2 Cups Cooked White Rice
- 2 Eggs Scrambled
- 6-8 Garlic Cloves Mashed
- ÂĽ Red Bell Pepper
- ÂĽ Green Bell Pepper
- 1 Small Onion: Red or White
- ½ tsp Orégano
- 1 Carrot Boiled & Cubed
- 1 tsp Sopita/Chicken Bouillon Cube
- 2-3 tbs Soy Sauce
- 2 Scallions
- Black Pepper to Taste
- Oil
- ÂĽ cup Water
Instructions
- Boil 2 cups of water with salt and oil and cook rice. You can also use leftover white rice. Once the rice is steaming, set aside
- Dice chicken into small-medium cubes
- Season chicken with mashed garlic, Dominican Orégano or regular regular orégano, sopita/chicken bouillon cube, adobo or your favorite seasoning salt. Add black pepper to taste and mix until everything is well combined
- In a heated deep sided skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil
- Add seasoned chicken and mix every so often. You want chicken to brown slightly but ultimately cook all of the way through
- After about 5 mins, add ÂĽ cup of water. This will allow chicken to steam and cook throughout
- Once the water dries up, add diced smoked ham and mix
- Brown chicken and ham for about 5 minutes or until everything is nice and golden
- Next, add onions and peppers. Saute for 1 minute
- Add soy sauce and mix until well combined
- Now add cooked white rice and gently mix everything until rice is fully covered with soy sauce, chicken, and ham
- Once the rice fully covered, add pre-boiled diced carrots and mix in gently so carrots stay in-tact. Feel free to use frozen diced carrots. If you do, add carrots at the same time as the onions and peppers so that they saute and defrost
- Turn heat down to low and in a separate skillet scramble two eggs
- Once eggs are fully cooked, fold into rice
- Lastly, add scallions and serve while hot!
Notes
Feel free to make this dish ahead of time. Add eggs and scallions just before serving so that eggs don’t become rubbery. Scallions will add nice crunch and texture when added at the very end. Also feel free to use the veggies of your choice and omit eggs