Gumbo is king in Louisiana. Heartwarming and flavorful, a gumbo can cure
most Louisiana ailments like hunger-a-tosis, cold-to-the-bone-eolus and
alcohol excessaria. Gumbo (Louisiana Love) is the dish the soul soaks
up, and remember, Sunday is always "Gumbo Day". Cold weather is called
"Gumbo Weather" in South Louisiana but wait!
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Making traditional Gumbo is not for you "fast food" cooks. This dish can
take two or more hours. Most of the time is dependent upon making the
roux. The more practice you get the faster you'll make them. If you
don't LOVE to cook don't even mess with this one! Instead, go to mama's
and get yourself a bowl! You can cheat and get pre-packaged gumbo mixes
of which many are pretty good.
Besides the roux, the gumbo stock (liquid) is the base for the great flavor.
Read about Stocks.
Roux
The roux is the base of texture and flavor for the gumbo. It takes
practice so if you burn a few don't quit, just start over. We've all
burned our share of rouxs. A roux takes your undivided attention. If you
try to do other things while cooking a roux you'll likely burn it.
Making a Roux...
I typically use peanut oil because it has a higher smoke point and it
lends a little nutty flavor. Vegetable oil, lard, bacon grease and
butter are all fine but you'll have to learn to adjust the fire
differently for each. Mixtures of these oils are possible too.
A good roux (most flavorful) is almost a chocolate color. There are
other roux colors (lighter) but they are for other specific dishes.
We're looking for the dark roux for a gumbo.
See Roux colors here...
If you are a beginner start with equal parts of oil and all purpose
flour. When you get a little experience under your belt you can reduce
the oil, it makes for faster browning. In a sauce pan, pot, Dutch Oven
(my choice) or whatever, add the oil and let it heat for a minute on a
medium fire. Lower the fire a bit, add the flour and begin stirring with
a spatula. Let it cook for 10 seconds then stir again. When your fire is
right you'll see the flour brown in slightly darker shades as you stir.
If you see a big difference in color your fire is too high. As the roux
gets darker you need to lower the fire a little, darker - lower, darker
- lower, and so on. Experience will make you better at this.
You can cheat on this! (Click Here)
Gumbo Basics
Once you think the roux is the right color throw in the onions and stir
for a few minutes. You can then turn the fire up a little and continue
adding your other vegetables. Cook this for at least 30-60 minutes. Then
add your meat and other favorite gumbo ingredients. Stir often because
you can still burn it.
Premade stocks are widely available and should be used to create a
delicious base.
The gumbo must boil a few minutes to obtain the maximum thickening of
the flour (roux).
Start your gumbo early. If it sits on the stove an hour or so before you
serve it it'll be even better.
Green onions and parsley go in about 15 minutes before turning the fire
off. Thyme is an essential seasoning in chicken gumbo, just a little!
Add filé after it's done and the fire is off. We normally add
this to the bowl we're eating it in.
Chicken
There are a few different methods in using chickens and hens.
If you use a chicken (fryer) you can cut it up and throw it in as is.
You can cut it and pan fry it until it's lightly browned (adds more
flavor) and toss it in. You can boil and de-bone it. You can even
de-bone it, pan fry it then throw it in. You can also brown it in the
oven then boil and debone.
A hen is tougher (it's an older chicken and has more experience running
from gumbo cooks!) and will take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to get
tender in boiling water. I usually boil and de-bone it. You can cook it
in the gumbo but then you have small bones to contend with. You say,
well I have bones in the fryer! Yes, but to get the thicker pieces of
the hen tender you wind up over cooking the thinner and bonier parts and
they will fall apart first, bingo, small bones everywhere.
Sausage
If you're going to make a gumbo using smoked sausage you have a few
choices on how to treat the sausage depending upon how much meat you
want in the gumbo. Smoked sausage can overpower a gumbo so be sure
you're familiar with what you're using.
If you just want it to season the gumbo and don't care about the amount
of meat you are adding cut half of a link into 3/4" pieces and throw it
in the gumbo. Let it cook for about 20 minutes and taste it. If you want
more sausage flavor add more, cook for a few minutes then taste.
The other method is to cut the sausage into the sized pieces you want
and put it into a pot of boiling water for about 20 minutes. Here is
where you have the most control of the sausage flavor. In boiling the
sausage you extract much of the flavor into the water. You then strain
the water and add the sausage to the gumbo and taste it. If you want
more sausage flavor add some of the sausage water. This method allows
you to put more sausage meat into your gumbo and not overpower it with
the sausage flavor. You will also get any excess oil out of it.
I like fresh sausage in my gumbos. You usually don't need the "boil
first" method here because the "grease and heavy flavor factor" is not
there. If you can get Chaurice (not Chorizo) (creole sausage) it's the
best.
Follow the recipe when using Andouille as it has very little grease in
it.
Okra
I sometimes throw in a cup or two of fresh, young, large-cut (1/2") okra
about 30 minutes before serving. A true okra gumbo actually doesn't use
a roux. The okra is lightly browned and after all is said and done you
have a thick gumbo with a good color and magnificent taste. Get ready to
spend some time at the stove on this one, but man, it's worth the wait!
Seafood
Shrimp will get tough if you cook them too long. Throw them in about 15
minutes before the fire is shut off. Be sure the gumbo is boiling at a
slow roll. Adding a small handful of dried shrimp is an old Cajun trick.
Seafood stock is widely available and should be used.
All seafood should cook at least 5-10 minutes at a slow rolling boil,
whole fresh crabs; at least ten minutes, oysters until the edges curl.
Eggs
Pre-Boiled eggs make a nice addition, just drop them in.
Rice trick
Add a little stock to the water you're going to cook the rice in.
Other Stuff
Potato salad is a must with gumbo.
French bread won't hurt either, especially lightly toasted with olive
oil and garlic.
Enjoy