Charlie's Kitchen aka Blue Fire

Kimchi Burger with Kimchi fried potatoes balls

2021-10-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

Random dishes made in the past.

2021-10-29T12:50:00.002-07:00

Friendsgivemas Celebration

2017-11-21T06:49:00.001-08:00

Hello Ladies and Gents,

Man, the last time I blogged was September 2, 2014. I have been posting pictures on Instagram #whattoeatordrinknk5 and #bluefirenk5 since it is easier than writing an actual blog. I recently invited a group of friends over for "Friendsgivemas" and wanted to share our dining experience. The menu starts with three hors d'oeuvres, followed by a main course consisting of three different meats, and ended with creme brulee. Recipes and instructions for some of the items on the menu are posted below.

For hors d'oeuvres, I made some simple dishes. This one below is mozzarella cheese with grape tomato and fresh basil from my mini garden. I drizzled EVOO and balsamic vinegar then sprinkled some pink salt and fresh cracked black paper. Very refreshing.

Second course of hors d'oeuvre is deviled eggs. I discovered a cool technique to boil these eggs. Load some water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the eggs in gently and stir it for 30 seconds. Turn off the stove, cover the pot and let the eggs sit for 17 minutes. Afterwards, transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking for a minute before peeling it. Slice the eggs in half and separate the yolk into a different bowl. Add the following ingredients to your bowl of yolk: dijon mustard, mayonnaise, heavy cream, diced red onion, salt and fresh cracked pepper. Mix well and scoop it in a piping bag. You can now evenly disperse the mixture to the white eggs. Garnish with crispy bacon, chives, and caviar.

Lastly, we have smoked salmon mousse. In a processor, add your favorite smoked salmon, sour cream, cream cheese, garlic, and red onion then blend it to the consistency you want. Scoop out the mixture into a bowl and add in some chopped dill and season it with salt and black pepper. Make sure to mix it well. Cut 1/2 inch thick slices of English cucumbers and scoop out some of the center to make room for the mousse. Place the mousse in a piping bag and fill in the centers of the cucumber slices. I added a small piece of lobster tail that was poach in butter on top for more flavor. Enjoy!

For this main course, I created a trio: (from top to bottom)
1. Seared tri-tip with buttery mash potato covered with a red wine reduction sauce
2. Roasted pork tenderloin with pumpkin/butternut puree topped with roasted corn and dried chili puree
3. Roasted turkey breast with cranberry bacon sauce

We ended dinner with a creme brulee dessert made with a special hint of cognac.

White taro soup

2014-09-02T00:10:00.001-07:00

Ingredients:

-shrimps

-dried shrimps (soak in warm water for 5 mins and drain it)

-white taro (boiled until tender)

-1/2 onion

-fish sauce

-sugar

-black pepper

-paddy rice herb

Preparation

This should be simple: sauteed the shrimps, dried shrimps and onion until cooked in a large pot. Then add about 6 cups of water and wait for it to boiled. Now, you will need a blender. Pour everything from the pot into the blender with taro and blend until fine (depending on how thick you want the soup don't add too much water) you might need to split it up. Once everything is blend, pour it back in the pot and set the heat at medium high. Season with fish sauce, sugar, and black pepper according to your taste. Serve it in a bowl with some chopped paddy rice herb.

NY steak with Grilled eggplant pureed

2014-08-05T21:04:00.004-07:00

NY steak on pureed grilled (eggplant, garlic, and onion) with basil and chive oil. Sauteed portabella mushroom with whisky on the side. Topped with cabbage, chive, and red jalapeno salad.

More oyster shots with ponzu, basil, black pepper, chive, caviar** 😈, and diced jalapeno.

Pork tenderloin and jumbo shrimp with Asian flavor

2014-08-03T22:03:00.001-07:00

I apologized for taking so long to blog my food. I hope to continue after today. Today, we are celebrating my mother's birthday and I wanted to make her good food. Happy Birthday Mom!

Ca Kho To (Vietnamese braised fish)

2013-04-14T23:28:00.003-07:00

I don't want to go all crazy with ingredient, so I kept it pretty simple!! Takes about 15 minutes to make this.

Ingredients:
- 4 to 5 1 inch steak cut cat fish
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 medium onion minced
- salt and black pepper
- Thai chili pepper (optional)
- Sauce: In a bowl, add 2 tbs soy sauce, 2 tbs fish sauce, 1 tbs balsamic vinegar, 1 tbs sugar, and 1 tbs honey.

This dish is very salty and sweet, so eat it with rice to balance the flavor. Canh Chua also go with this meal.

Shrimp Crispy Noodle

2013-04-12T19:08:00.001-07:00

Gravy ingredient for one portion: In a small bowl, you'll need 8 oz of chicken stock, 1/2 tbs sugar, 1/2 tbs oyster sauce, 1/2 Pantai, some black pepper, and just about 1 tbs starch or a little less. Mix it well before pouring in.

Ingredients: garlic, red onion, snow pea (steamed), carrot (steamed), oyster mushroom (steamed), shrimp, and fried crispy noodle (1 bag can make 4 dishes)

Birthday cake

2013-02-25T23:30:00.003-08:00

Let's be clear!!! I didn't make this yummy cake because I just don't have the talent. It was my wife Birthday, so I had my friend who is also my business tutor (Melissa) made this delicious cake. I have to say, she is talented!!!

My take on Banh Beo (water fern cake)

2013-01-21T20:48:00.001-08:00

Sauteed shrimp

Mung bean

Ground pork

Shredded dried shrimp

Green onion with cooking oil

Crab in 2 ways

2013-01-18T20:14:00.003-08:00

Well, crab was on sale for $3.69 at my local Asian store. I took the liberty to buy 2, one for me and one for my wife. So I decided to cook it 2 different ways: I steamed one to keep that true flavor of it. For the other, I wanted to go with the Asian tradition. That was to stir fried with 2 main ingredients (ginger and oyster sauce) and along with other components.

Ingredient for Ginger and Oyster sauce:
-3 cloves of garlic (minced)
-1 green bell pepper
-1/2 red onion
-3 stems of green onion
-1/4 to 1/2 cups of ginger (julienne)
-seasons with salt, sugar, black pepper, and oyster sauce

Ingredient for cilantro lime sauce
-cilantro leaves
-1/2 lime
-sugar
-fish sauce
Credit to my sister for Cilantro lime sauce. You can use this sauce with steamed crab.

Salmon with glazed persimmon

2012-10-11T22:57:00.002-07:00

Salmon with crispy skin, served with rice, glazed persimmon and sauteed green bean.

Pickled watermelon

2012-10-11T00:25:00.001-07:00

Yes!!! I know, who eats the white part of the melon? I took this idea from my dad when he had me to peel off the skin of the watermelon. He wanted to pickled the white part of the melon. This old man was crazy, who does that and for what? Well, it turned out that it tasted pretty good and I want to share it with you on my take of this pickled melon.

Making something with leftovers

2012-09-25T19:46:00.001-07:00

Very simple: I had fresh pizza dough, clam chowder as my sauce, leftover rib-eye steak, steamed broccoli, mozzarella stick, tomato and onion. I made pizza!!! Weird??? Turns out that it was not bad at all. Good eating.

Again, leftover mash potato with crispy bacon, fried chopped garlic, and fried chopped onion. I rolled it into a ball and coated with bread crumbs. After I deep fried it, I used the leftover clam chowder as gravy! Awesome!

My take on Dad's Burger

2012-09-11T21:38:00.001-07:00

I had leftover beef round steak so I decided to make a burger inspired by a burger from Dad's Kitchen in Sacramento, CA. Beef round steak is really lean and could be dry at times if cooked too well. The burger patty is made up of beef round steak, polish dog, and butter (to help from being dry) grounded in a food processor. Then I added some crispy applewood maple bacon on top of the cooked patty to give it some seasoning and texture. I used an onion cheese bun to give it more flavor.

My take on Crawfish!!!

2012-08-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

I have gone to four different places to eat crawfish (crawdad) in Sacramento: The Boiling Crab, Sac Crawfish, Firehouse Crawfish and a friend's house (Hiep Vu). After trying all these different flavors, I've come up with a new sauce this year for the crawfish. Stay tuned for the instruction video.

Here are the ingredients:

9oz Chorizo
2 cups Garlic
1 cups Onion
1 cups Lemongrass
1/2 cups Carrot
2 1/2 tbs Smoked Paprika
2 tbs Louisiana seasoning
2 cups White Zinfandel and 2 cups Orange Juice
2 sticks of Butter
1 tbs Fish sauce
Sugar candy
Lime powder
Curry (optional)
Jalapeno (optional)

What to do with a roasted pig's head....

2012-06-28T14:14:00.003-07:00

There were a lot of leftover food from my sister-in-law's wedding; roasted pig's head being one of it. I decided to take it home and make some soup out of it. Again, another noodle soup added to my blog!

Fat rice noodle soup.

Making base of soup using the head.

Ribeye with special sauce

2012-05-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

Awhile back, I went to a friend's house (Hiep Vu) to have steak. I was introduced to this nice savory sauce on top of my steak. It was different and also good so I've decided to share it with you. Here is my take on the sauce.

I roasted about 10 cloves garlic to get the texture like bananas. Then I stir-fried some grape tomatoes (sliced in half) and some green onions (about 1 inch chopped) on high heat to get it caramelized. II added the garlic, grape tomatoes and green onions into a medium-sized bowl. Then I added the juice of half a lime, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, some sugar and salt for taste. That's it!!! You can add some cilantro and jalapeno if you'd like.
Ribeye was rubbed with coffee, sesame seed, salt and pepper.

Thanks HiepVu

Banh Xeo

2012-04-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

Wonton

2012-04-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Fish Springroll with Mam Nem sauce

2012-03-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

Mam nem (Vietnamese fermented anchovy dipping sauce) is mixed with fresh pineapple, caramelized onions and garlic, white wine and sugar. (Add chili as needed)

With a rice paper, add lettuce, noodle, fish, bean spouts, cucumber, carrot, mint, and cilantro. Then roll it up.

Walnut Shrimp Sushi roll

2011-12-30T00:14:00.000-08:00

Walnut candy:

Using a nonstick pan on high heat, add in about ½ tbs butter. When the butter melts, add the walnuts making sure they all get evenly coated with butter. Add in about ½ tbs of sugar, then 1 tbs of honey. Stir evenly and turn off the heat. Let it sit to cool down for about an hour.

Shrimp:

Mix about 1 lbs of devein shrimp and 1 egg white together. Once mixed, add some starch. Now deep fry the shrimp and set them aside. In a big bowl, add ¼ cup of Japanese mayo (if you don’t have Japanese mayo, use any mayo you like), 1 oz. of honey, and half a lemon. Add sugar as needed to sweeten the sauce. Now mix the fried shrimp with the prepared sauce.

Christmas 2011!

2011-12-30T00:03:00.000-08:00

Food bought and made from families.

Turducken!!

2011-11-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

Shrimp Ceviche

2011-11-24T14:08:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
-raw shrimp
-cucumber
-tomato
-cilantro
-red onion
-jalapeno
-lime
-orange
-green bell pepper
-garlic
-salt
-black pepper
-sugar
-fish sauce

Stay tuned for Video!