Savory roast duck, honey barbecued pork, boiled chicken with sauce... These classic dishes, familiar to every Chinese person, have become quite common in Lima, the capital of Peru. They are available in all the Chinese restaurants dotting the streets and alleys, which are known by Peruvians as Chifa restaurants (Chifa sounds quite similar to Chifan in Chinese pinyin, which means eating and dining.) To the locals, they have become a symbol of Chinese culture and a key ingredient of Peru's diverse culinary culture.

The attitude of Peruvians toward Chinese food has gone through a drastic transition over the past century, from initially resisting to today's integration and innovation. Indeed, Chinese cuisine serves as a mirror reflecting the dynamic cultural interplay between the Chinese community and the mainstream Peruvian society, and has also played a role in shaping Peru's eating habits and cultural identity. Nowadays, Peruvian Chinese eateries, through continuous adjustment and integration, have shattered the barriers of ethnicity and cultural biases, fostering a communal culture and social space where Peruvians and Chinese coexist harmoniously.

Chinese laborers: The introducers of Chinese cuisine to Peru

Though institutionalized slavery ended at the end of the 19th century, the slave trade persisted in South America due to its demand for plantations, mines, and other labor-intensive work. To drive the export of its agriculture and mining, Peru brought in a substantial number of Chinese indentured laborers. Historical records indicate that, from 1849 to 1874, about 100,000 Chinese indentured laborers arrived in Peru. According to Professor Humberto Rodriguez from the National University of San Marcos in Peru, it is certain that without these coolies, the history of Peru's accumulation of national wealth in the second half of the 19th century would have been rewritten.

These Chinese laborers largely solved Peru's labor shortage and significantly contributed to the country's exports. At the societal level, they introduced Chinese cuisine through their daily meals, which would be leaving an indelible mark on the food culture of Peru.

Some of the Chinese laborers who came to Peru brought along a wok. After finishing their work on the plantations or guano phosphate mining, they would cook their lunch by boiling the rice that was given to them. Although they were contract laborers, their personal freedom was restricted. Those who ran away would be recaptured and treated as slaves; those captured after escaping not only suffered beatings but were also put in shackles. Some plantation owners even branded Chinese laborers as a mark of identification. Amid the wisps of cooking smoke, homesickness spread through the plantations, revealing the laborers' most urgent need: to survive in a foreign land.

In 1874, when the Qing emperor of China signed the Sino-Peruvian Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation with Peru, the era of the Chinese indentured laborers concluded, giving way to free immigration. The role of the Chinese in Peru thus changed from indentured laborers to free-wage workers. Some reentered the plantations to either work the field or serve as household helpers in Peruvian communities, while others ventured into small-scale commerce, setting up grocery shops and diners.

New waves of Chinese immigrants, led by influential merchants, also made their way to Peru and exerted an even more significant impact. By the end of the 19th century, Chinese-established commercial centers had spread throughout Peru. In the 1920s and 1930s, Chinese merchants, ranking just behind American and British merchants in economic prowess, brought specialized chefs and business managers to Peru, thus furthering the development of Chinese restaurants and revealing the refined intricacies of Chinese cuisine.

Chinese cuisine in Peru: a journey of trepidation but development

Humberto Rodríguez believes that there were three main factors that contributed to the gradual acceptance of Chinese food: Chinese as domestic workers in Peruvian households, Chinese marrying with locals, and Chinese opening small eateries (fonda), which all led to the emergence of Chifa restaurants.

According to an 1860 population census, most Chinese in Lima worked as servants (35.4%) or chefs (27%), which had a significant effect on the culinary preferences of the families that employed them. The influence and acceptance of Chinese cuisine were further expanded through intermarriages, thereby increasing the population of Chinese descendants and the consumer demand for Chinese food. By opening small dining venues, the Chinese entities made their way into Peru's economy, and they also invented dishes such as stir-fried flank steak (lomo saltado) and fried rice (arroz chaufa). These dishes are now considered part of Peru's national cuisine, and an important part of Peruvian culinary tradition.

Chinese immigrants used food as a cultural marker to distinguish them from local Peruvians. For a period, Chinese restaurants faced hostility amid anti-Chinese sentiments, with local Peruvians distorting Chinese food and culinary customs as strange, unsanitary, and disgusting. Concentrated in areas like Calle Capón and Callejón Otaiza in Lima, these ethnic enclaves faced severe criticism from Peruvian society at large for alleged hygiene issues, safety hazards, and cultural and moral concerns.

Chinese merchants and restaurants were blamed for causing malnutrition among the Peruvian working class, and Chinese traditions were seen as hindrances to modernization, which made the Chinese a focal point of societal conflicts in Peru. In May 1909, the Chinese quarters were demolished. Amidst rising social conflicts, the Chinese became victims of racial prejudice and government exploitation.

However, Chinese restaurants demonstrated remarkable resilience under these harsh societal conditions, and food served as a key to unlocking cultural exchange. By the 1930s, Chifa had become part of everyday language and gained popularity, and its influence had reached Ecuador and northern Chile.

The rise of the Chinese food industry also stimulated related local sectors. Through transnational trade networks, Chinese merchants supplied ingredients, condiments, and seasonings for Chinese restaurants. The industry also spurred Chinese agriculture, as immigrants with agricultural experience from the Lingnan region of China (encompassing Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macao) began engaging in animal husbandry, land reclamation, and rice and vegetable farming in Peru.

Humberto Rodríguez notes that while rice consumption in Peru did not originate with the Chinese, it was propagated by Asian immigrants. Peru's Chinese agricultural sector saw the emergence of industry giants like Liu Jinliang, Dai Zonghan, and Dai Heting. In 1922, Liu Jinliang reclaimed 2,300 hectares of farmland in Pacasmayo, northern Peru, for rice cultivation and cattle farming. Dai Zonghan improved farming techniques there and experimented with scientific methods of irrigation and seedling planting, which doubled rice production in the province in a short time. His experience and practices were later applied elsewhere, making the northern coastal area of Peru the country's primary rice-producing region.

Chinese restaurants: Creating a cultural and social space

In the 1940s, Chinese restaurants flourished in Peru, and they became an important way for Chinese culture to spread. The decorations, menus, and dishes of the restaurants at that time were full of Chinese cultural characteristics, such as bamboo, loongs, red lanterns, and folding screens, all helping to introduce Chinese culture to Peruvian diners. With the arrival of new immigrants from Chinese provinces such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Sichuan, the traditionally Cantonese-style Chinese restaurants in Peru were gradually infused with a mosaic of flavors.

Chinese food not only influenced Peruvian food culture but also became localized. Ginger (kión), spring onions (cebolla china), and soy sauce became indispensable condiments in Peruvian cuisine. The Cantonese names of popular dishes, like wonton (kanlu wanta), braised Chu Hou chicken (chijaukay), shumai (siu mai), and fried rice (arroz chaufa), enriched the local lexicon.

The evolution of Chinese cuisine in Peru also reflects a blending with Peruvian culinary heritage. Supermarkets and produce stores often carry fried rice kits, which include ingredients like carrots, peas, cabbage, and bean sprouts. This classic dish has been reimagined with Peruvian flavors, incorporating seafood, native ají peppers, steak, or even substituting rice with quinoa from the Andes. It's not uncommon to find rice seasoned with salt, garlic, oil, and soy sauce.

Inside a Chifa restaurant, different traditions of food coexist and merge, creating a communicative culinary space. Gathering to enjoy Chinese dim sum and Peruvian desserts has become a daily activity for Peruvians. Humberto Rodriguez concluded that the Chinese community has enriched Peruvian cultural diversity, their descendants have established friendships with Peruvians, and Peruvians and Chinese grow in the same neighborhoods.

The authors are Zhang Kun, associate professor of history at Shanghai University, Zhang Qingren, professor at Minzu University of China.

Liu Xian /Editor    Jiang Jing /Translator

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Ren Qiang /Coordinator

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

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