Chaulafan de pollo {Ecuadorian chicken fried rice}

This recipe for chaulafan de pollo or Ecuadorian style chicken fried rice is made with chicken, rice, bacon, onions, garlic, peppers, bell peppers, peas, carrots, scrambled eggs, raisins, spices and herbs. Chaulafan is the Ecuadorian version of fried rice. There are many different types of chaulafan: shrimp, chicken, pork, mixed. In most major cities in Ecuador you will find chifas or Chinese restaurants, these are usually the best places to eat chaulafan. You can either eat at the restaurant or take it to go. When I was in high school in Loja, there was a chifa right across from the home of one of my best friends; it always made me so hungry every time I walked by that place.

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Chaulafan de pollo: Ecuadorian chicken fried rice

Chaulafan de pollo is an Ecuadorian chicken fried rice made with rice, chicken, bacon, onions, garlic, peppers, bell peppers, peas, carrots, scrambled eggs, raisins, spices and herbs.

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Ecuadorian, Latin

Keyword: Chaulafan de pollo, Chicken chaulafan, Ecuadorian chicken fried rice, Latin style fried rice

Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 to 15 people

Author: Layla Pujol

Ingredients

Chicken broth

• 5 lbs whole chicken or assorted pieces
• 10 cups water
• 1 white onion diced
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks finely chopped
• 5 cilantro sprigs
• Salt to taste

Rice

• 2 tbs butter or oil
• 2 tbs white onion diced
• 3 ¼ cups chicken broth
• 3 cups uncooked rice
• Salt to taste

Chaulafan

• 2-3 tbs butter
• 1 cup diced white onions
• 6 garlic cloves crushed
• 4 oz pancetta or diced bacon
• 3 tbs finely chopped cilantro
• 2 tbs hot pepper powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp achiote powder
• 2 bell peppers 1 red and 1 green, diced
• 1 cup cooked peas
• 2 cooked carrots diced (1 cup)
• ½ cup raisins
• 6 eggs scrambled
• 7 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs Worcester sauce
• 3 tbs finely chopped cilantro/parsley
• 2 bunches scallions or green onions finely chopped

Sides:

• Avocado slices
• Tree tomato aji or tamarillo hot sauce , or any hot sauce
• Curtido or pickled onions
• Ketchup

Instructions

• Bring the water, carrots, onions, celery and herbs to boil in a large pot, add the chicken and cook over medium heat for about 1 hour or until the chicken is very tender and fully cooked.
• Remove the chicken from the broth and save the broth.
• To cook the rice, heat the butter or oil, add the onions and the rice, stir well. Then add the broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile debone the chicken and reserve the chicken meat for later.
• Heat 2-3 tbs butter or oil over medium heat in a large pan to prepare a refrito or base for the chaulafan.
• Add the chopped onions, diced pancetta, crushed garlic, 1 tbs Worcester sauce, 1 tbs soy sauce, cumin, cilantro, hot pepper powder, and achiote powder; cook for about 5-8 minutes or until the onions are soft.
• Add the cooked rice, chicken meat, and diced bell peppers. Stir well and cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in the remaining soy sauce, remaining Worcester sauce, scrambled eggs, peas, carrots, raisins, mix well.
• Add the chopped herbs and green onions.
• Serve with avocado slices, aji or hot sauce, pickled red onions or curtido, and ketchup (or spicy ketchup).

Some time ago I posted a recipe for arroz on pollo or chicken rice. While it was popular and I received good feedback on that recipe, the most common feedback was along the lines of  “this is great, but where’s the other arroz con pollo or chaulafan de pollo?”.  I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, sorry it’s so late for those requested it (but better late than never, right?).

As I mentioned before, this particular chaulafan de pollo is very popular and is also known as arroz con pollo or rice with chicken.  Another very popular chaulafan is one that has a combination of chicken, ham and pork. I did add a small amount of pancetta or bacon to this chaulafan, but feel free to leave it out if you don’t eat pork. One of my favorite parts about making this chaulafan is making the broth, it smells so good and reminds me of consome de pollo – a very tasty and simple chicken broth  served with or without a piece of chicken plus chopped green onions and cilantro.

It also reminds how great homemade chicken broth is, I always say that if I had enough free time I would never buy store bought broth again. However, that is never the case and taking busy schedules into consideration, for those who want to make a quick variation of this chaulafan you can use the meat from a store bought rotisserie chicken plus store bought chicken broth.  I recommend serving this with avocado slices, hot sauce and some ketchup (yes, ketchup, if you have the spicy type it is the best).

Step by step preparation photos for Ecuadorian chaulafan de pollo fried rice: