Topped with airplane-shaped carrot slices, China Chilcano’s chaufa aeropuerto is a satisfying Peruvian version of fried rice. (Photo by Kristen Hartke)

Dish of the week: Chaufa

Where to get it: China Chilcano, Ocopa, Toro Toro

Ramen may be all the rage, but chaufa’s day is coming. With the Summer Olympics on the horizon and interest in South American cuisine on the rise, now is the time to dig into a soul-satisfying bowl of chaufa, Peru’s answer to traditional fried rice, chock full of chiles, chayote, and cilantro, along with pork belly, egg tortilla, and pretty much everything but the kitchen sink.

D.C.’s most prolific restaurateur, José Andrés, brought chaufa to the 7th Street corridor just over a year ago with his Peruvian-inspired restaurant China Chilcano, which celebrates the intersection of Chinese and Peruvian cuisine found widely across Peru. Under the direction of chef Omar Rodriguez, China Chilcano’s Aeropuerto chaufa is a textured melange of 20 seasonal vegetables, including broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, snow peas, zucchini, and shavings of carrot that are charmingly shaped like tiny airplanes. The dish in Peru is said to have originated in a restaurant next to an airport, but, as Chef Rodriguez points out, “With 20 vegetables in the dish, “aeropuerto” could also mean that everything lands in it—it’s a great dish for leftovers.”

Chaufa de Quinua is a new version of the original created by Rodriguez, an egg tortilla topped by black and white quinoa, which adds a crunchy element, along with sesame, red peppers, bean sprouts, and snow peas. The interplay of textures and flavors takes a typical fried rice to new heights, and both chaufa dishes, at $12 to $14, are ample enough to share with a friend along with some Peruvian-tinged dim sum and, of course, a Pisco Sour or two (hint: try adding one of the fruit-infused macerados to your Pisco to amp up the flavor).

National Pisco Day is on Sunday, July 24, so China Chilcano will also be offering up cocktail demonstrations, pisco tastings, and special menu items from 3-6 p.m. in the sunny Marketplace bar. A couple of other places around town where you can find chaufa—and pisco—are at Ocopa on H Street, which offers an upscale version at $23 filled with shredded duck, broccolini, and ginger, while chef Richard Sandoval’s Toro Toro has a chicken, chorizo, and steak version for $10.

Small Bites:

Betsy’s Backyard BBQ
You may be familiar with Belga Café, Chef Bart Vandaele’s Belgian bistro on Barracks Row, but you have to head behind the building to the alley, following the chicken feet painted on the ground, and up the stairs to Betsy (514 8th Street SE, back alley), a no-reservations-needed rooftop oasis named for Vandaele’s favorite pet chicken (yes, really). While Betsy’s is open all summer long, it’s also hosting monthly outdoor parties, starting this Sunday, July 24 from 5 – 8 p.m. with a crawfish boil. The $40 ticket covers food, one beer or champagne drink, and one gin cocktail, as well as tax and gratuity.

What’s Sup?
D.C.’s bastion of everything rum, Orange Anchor (3050 K Street), is hosting a What’s Sup Party tonight—July 22—from 8 p.m. to midnight. Every Orange Crush cocktail (which, sadly, doesn’t include rum, but is instead Stoli orange vodka with triple sec, orange juice, and Sprite) sale comes with a raffle ticket for a stand-up paddle board—which you could, presumably, use to paddle away right from the dockside bar.

National Tequila Day
Apparently National Pisco Day is also National Tequila Day (what did we all do before every day was a food holiday?), so you can suck down tequila, in the most patriotic way, of course, at Mission (1606 20th Street NW) during a daylong party on Sunday, July 24. Happy hour pricing will be available all day on margaritas and pitchers, plus half off all of the more than 70 tequilas on offer. Mission margaritas are available on tap, and you can also try some nontraditional versions, in flavors like dragon fruit, strawberry basil, and pineapple jalapeno.