The Chinese diaspora is massive. It’s almost as though it’s in the Chinese DNA to travel far and wide in search of greater opportunity and the hope for a better life for the next generation. And when they have traveled, they have influenced local cuisines in the places where they’ve immigrated to. When the Chinese immigrated to the United States, many in search of gold and fortune, they modified their food to suit the tastes of Americans, which typically meant that they added more sugar to their dishes, more fried elements, as well as a greater emphasis on meat. This resulted in dishes that cannot be found in mainland China, foods like crab rangoon (which I’d actually never heard of until I moved to the East Coast in 2004) and orange chicken. In Australia, the Chinese created dim sims, which are a steamed or (more popularly) fried dumpling with a thick, crispy skin, filled with meat and sometimes shredded vegetables. And in Peru, Chinese food became so popular that it even got its own category for the fusion Peruvian Chinese cuisine: “chifa,” which derives from “ni chi fan” or “have you eaten yet?” in the Mandarin Chinese language. I was eager to see what the hype was around chifa, and on our first full day in Lima, we popped into a Chinese restaurant in Lima Chinatown to try some of this out.

Dishes that are typically recommended when trying out chifa are arroz chaufa, or Chinese fried rice with a Peruvian twist of aji amarillo paste for subtle heat; lomo saltado, or stir fried beef, onions, and tomatoes, usually served with rice; tallarin saltado, or stir-fried noodles with a mix of protein and vegetables, with a similar chili sauce added. I was warned by several travel blogs that even the smallest sizes for chifa dishes can be massive, so I should order the smallest servings to prevent too much waste. I got two dishes: the house special arroz chaufa, and the pork/vegetable stir fried tallarin. And what ended up being a little funny was that the fried rice was exactly like a really good pork/seafood fried rice would be like in New York or anywhere else in the world. It had a really strong and delicious wok hei flavor, ample pork and shrimp, lots of egg and scallions and minced vegetables. But for us, there was no distinctive Peruvian flair to it. I didn’t detect any subtle heat or aji seasoning. It was tasty, but it didn’t seem like fusion to us. Then, there were the stir fried noodles I ordered, which were tasty, but again, they didn’t have anything that made them distinctively Peruvian Chinese. The pork and vegetables were cut up fatter and larger, but that was about it. Chris said he liked the food (but was sad at the amount we couldn’t finish given the portions could have easily fed a party double or even triple our size!), but he said he felt the meal was “wasted” because we didn’t taste or discover anything particularly new or really defining “chifa” here. I did exactly what I read to do — I looked for specific dish names and ordered accordingly. But alas, I wasn’t able to get the “chifa” flavor I was seeking. At least the slightly westernized Chinese food we did end up having was tasty, though lacking in Peruvian flavors as I’d hoped.

The next fusion food I was hoping to try while in Peru was Nikkei, or Peruvian Japanese food. Unfortunately, I felt a little disappointed once again. We tried a place that was recommended from a few lists I had combed through. I ordered several Japanese rolls from a list of mostly deep fried shrimp rolls. The sauces topping the rolls were like spicy mayo / avocado based sauces. But what I didn’t like was the use of cream cheese in one or two of the rolls. I just felt like that was overpowering the seafood and the overall flavor of the rolls, and it added a heaviness that I do not normally associate with nigiri/Japanese rolls. I get why cream cheese in rolls are popular, but I was over Philadelphia rolls (salmon and cream cheese rolls) back when I was a teen.

All cuisines are evolving. It’s hard to say that one dish is more “authentic” than another because cuisines evolve with time, changing tastes, immigration, and its people. But I’ve discovered that with any Japanese food, too much added fried or “crispy” stuff or cream cheese just detracts from the overall delicateness of the cuisine for me. I’m still open and willing to try any fusion cuisine; to date, my absolute favorite is most definitely Indian-Chinese, a la my favorite restaurant Tangra Masala!), but I guess these are versions that aren’t my favorite here.