The first time I made gumbo, I wasn't even in the U.S. We spent several months in Spain after we got married, and this is where I taught myself many American recipes. I would have never learned to make gumbo in the U.S., because I would have just gone to The Dinosaur Cafe and bought a bowl. When living abroad it is easy to gravitate towards foods that seem like home. Even when those foods would be uncommon for you normally.
These days I only make gumbo when I can find fresh okra. The first times I made it without okra. It just wasn't possible to find any in our neighborhood in northern Madrid. A couple times I have made it with frozen okra. One time in Greece, when I spotted okra for the first time in Europe, and once in Montana, when we were given a free bag of frozen okra. Otherwise, if I don't find fresh okra, I don't make it.
There are a million recipes for gumbo out there, and everybody has their own idea of how it should be. To me, gumbo should not be a light dish. Making a really good roux, in my opinion, requires quite some fat. But what you use and how you cook the gumbo depends on what you like and what your dietary restrictions are. If you can not or do not eat some of these ingredients, then make adjustments. Throughout the recipe, I mention some changes you can make.
Ingredients:
- Chicken (500g/1lb)
- Sausage (350g/12oz)
- Shrimp (200g/7oz)
- 1 large Onion (chopped)
- 4 cloves Garlic (minced)
- 4 stalks Celery (sliced)
- 1 Green bell pepper (chopped)
- Flour (3 large spoonfuls)
- Chicken broth (700ml/3 cups)
- Thyme (small bunch fresh)
- Bay leaves (3-4)
- Parsley (small bunch fresh)
- Cayenne or other chilies *Optional*
- salt and pepper
- Fresh okra (350g/12oz) [If you don't use okra - make more roux than specified here (2x)]
The Prep Work:
For my gumbo I use: chicken, pork sausage, and sometimes shrimp. In this case, I bought chicken legs. Sometimes I use chicken breast, but let's face it, chicken legs are much more flavorful. Andouille sausage is preferred, but substitutions are fine. I have used anything from spicy Italian to plain pork sausage (above). The only types I avoid are those with paprika or other spices that might conflict with those added to the gumbo.
I skinned, deboned, and cut the chicken into small pieces. I always salt my chicken lightly before cooking. If you are going the fat-rich route (like I do), you can save the skin and bones. Cut the sausage into small pieces.
Put the chicken in a large heated pot with a little olive oil. I put the bones and skin as well, because I want as much of the chicken fat to accumulate in the pan. If you are going light and don't want the fat, you can disregard the skin and bones.
Remove the chicken meat - leaving the bones and skin a while longer - and add the sausage. Stir gently until cooked.
Remove the sausage from the pot. Put the chicken and sausage aside for later. The bones and skin of the chicken can be thrown out, or could be used to make the broth in a pot with some water.
DO NOT GET RID OF THE ACCUMULATED FAT IN THE BOTTOM OF THE POT!
Unless you are going for a low-fat gumbo, you will need this fat to make the roux.
Cut all the vegetables (except the okra).
Saute the vegetables until soft and the onions are translucent. Set aside.
The Roux:
We are now going to start with the roux. The roux is the base flavor and thickening agent of the gumbo. It is basically a burnt bechamel. To make the roux, you need a fat and flour. We are using the fat reserved from cooking the meat. If you want you can just use some olive oil, butter, or a mix, but it won't be as flavorful.
(For more information about the art of making bechamel, see our recipe)
Heat the fat on medium-low heat and add three large heaping spoonfuls of flour.
Stir the flour and the fat until they are completely mixed and bubbling.
As the flour starts to brown, stir constantly. Watch your heat level. You do not want the flour to burn, just get slowly toasted. This part of the process is very important and determines what kind of gumbo you will have in the end. If you want a milder flavor, you can toast it lightly and have a blonde gumbo. If you want a really strong flavor, toast it for longer and have a blacker gumbo. I prefer to have something in the middle.
I toast my roux until it is a dark caramel color.
Once you have a roux that is the color you want, it is time to add the broth. Heat the broth so that it will incorporate into the flour and fat mixture more smoothly. You have to add the water a little at a time, each time stirring rapidly to get the mixture to an even consistency. Do not add more than a few spoonfuls of liquid in the beginning, or you will get lumpy roux.
After adding one cup (235ml) of broth, the roux will be the consistency of apple butter.
After two cups (470ml) of broth, the roux will be smooth and thick like a rich gravy (though I would not suggest it for such a use).
By the time you have added three cups of broth, it should be pretty watered down. At this point you can add all the cooked meat and vegetables to the pot, and top off with water.
Get the pot simmering.
The gumbo will seem fairly watery at this point, but don't despair! It will thicken as it simmers, and the addition of okra later on will make it even thicker. If you are not able to find okra, make more roux in the beginning. The more roux you have, the thicker the final product will be.
If the final product is still not thick enough for your tastes, make more roux in another pot, add broth from the main pot to make it smooth, and then incorporate it with the soup in the main pot. Easy as that.
Add the fresh thyme, bay leaves, and fresh parsley to the pot. You will take these out later before serving the gumbo. If you want your gumbo spicy, you can add a crushed dried chili at this time. For our tastes, one single cayenne chili is sufficient. It makes the gumbo a little spicy, but doesn't overpower the other flavors. If you prefer to add a fresh chili, it is advisable to add earlier with the onion and other vegetables.
You can also add salt and pepper at this time. If you salted the raw chicken before cooking, be wary of how much salt you add at the end.
Let the pot simmer with the herbs for 3/4 of an hour or so. If you are cooking the gumbo for the next day, you can let it cool after simmering and finish it right before serving. If you are eating the gumbo the same day, you can prepare the okra.
Okra is one of the oddest vegetables I've ever used. Originally from Africa, it has made its way into cuisine all over the world. When the fruits are cut open, several seeded chambers are revealed. The plants are mucilaginous, so shortly after cutting a clear gooey slime begins to seep from the cut ends. This goo assists with the thickening of the gumbo.
Before adding the okra to the pot, I prefer to saute it in a little oil first. During this initial cooking, the okra becomes covered in its own slime.
As you stir the okra in the pan, you will see the slime forming strands between the pieces.
You do not need to cook it for long in the pan. Just heat it up, then add it to the pot with the rest of the ingredients. At this point you can also add the shrimp. With this particular pot of gumbo I did not use shrimp. Normally I would cook them in their shells, peel them, and add them at the end.
Let the pot simmer for 15 minutes or so. You will see the gumbo thicken from the addition of the okra.
At this point your gumbo is ready to eat. We always eat ours served over a bed of rice.
Buen provecho!
