How To Make Gumbo

Make gumbo like the real Cajuns do! Gumbo can be defined as a soup of meat and/or shellfish and rice. "Vegetarian gumbo" would be little more than okra-and- onion soup, or thickened onion-and-mushroom soup, with rice. It is always seasoned with garlic, onions, and ground cayenne pepper. Additional seasonings enhance a gumbo, but are up to personal preference. Its name, "Gumbo" is an African word for "okra", and this is the traditional thickener used. Traditionalists will not make a gumbo without okra. However, even in South Louisiana, where the soup originated, many people use roux to enhance their gumbo instead.

Ingredients

• Two or more different varieties of meat or seafood: game (squirrel, sabbit, deer, raccoon, opossum, nutria), poultry (turkey, duck, chicken, quail, dove), smoked meat (sausages, tasso, or andouille), shellfish (crawfish, shrimp, crabs, oysters, or scallops).
• Garlic
• Onions
• Cayenne Pepper
• Okra and/or roux (flour and oil)
• Rice
• Optional ingredients: celery, mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, parsley, bay leaves, file, black pepper, white pepper, paprika.

Step 1  

Mince a large onion, a few ribs of celery and a large bell pepper - the Cajun "holy trinity" - and reserve in a separate container.

Step 2  

Chop or cut any whole game or poultry into pieces and reserve in separate container. Store raw and cooked meats in separate containers.

Step 3  

Shell or shuck any seafood and reserve in separate container. Store raw and cooked seafood in separate containers.

Step 4  

Slice any sausage, andouille or tasso and reserve in separate container.

Step 5  

Determine, approximately, how large your gumbo will be. There will typically be twice as much volume of gumbo as you have volume of meat.

Step 6  

Make about 1/2 cup of roux for every estimated gallon or deslime at least 1 cup of okra for every estimated gallon. [See HOW TO MAKE ROUX and DESLIMING OKRA in "Tips".]

Step 7  

Get out a pot large enough to hold more than your estimated quantity of gumbo- you will need room to stir.

Step 8  

Fill pot about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way with stock.

Step 9  

Brown the roux somewhere between peanut butter to dark chocolate in color using a wire whisk.

Step 10  

Stop the roux from burning -- careful, they call roux "Cajun napalm" -- by shutting off the burner a shade lighter than you want and carefully ladling some stock into the cast iron pan. Immediately add half of the diced onion, celery, bell pepper mixture to the roux/stock mixture.

Step 11  

Blend well and then add to the large pot of stock.

Step 12  

Add any meat that is already cooked to the stock.

Step 13  

Place the pot on a back burner on the stove, and begin heating over medium-high heat.

Step 14  

Brown any uncooked meats in a skillet while you're waiting for the stock to boil. This removes excess fat and enhances the flavor of the gumbo. Meat need not be fully cooked inside; it will finish in the pot. Work in batches if necessary- crowding the pan with meat will prevent liquid evaporation and prevent proper browning.

Step 15  

Add the sauteed meat carefully to the heating pot of liquid.

Step 16  

Discard excess fats or reserve for cooking later.

Step 17  

Allow the pot to come to a boil (if it has not already), then lower to a simmer and add any seafood and the remaining onion, celery, bell pepper mixture.

Step 18  

Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

Step 19  

Return to the gumbo after 1 hour to add cayenne and any other seasonings, adding each one gradually and adjusting to taste. (In other words, taste the gumbo as you add, and continue to add until it's right.)

Step 20  

Simmer for 1 or more hours. (Adding seafood such as shrimp or oysters in the last 10 minutes keeps them tender).

Step 21  

Cook rice.

Step 22  

Serve gumbo over rice with Louisiana hot sauce on the side.

Tips

• Tabasco sauce can be found everywhere. "Crystal" is the hot sauce preferred by many in New Orleans. It is not as hot as Tabasco, nor as vinegary, and has a rich peppery flavor.
• When you make gumbo, let it cook very slowly for at least two hours. It may taste cooked in an hour or so, but if you cook all of the ingredients very slowly, the taste changes and you will be amazed at the difference!
• If you cook with shrimp, don't add them until you are almost ready to eat. The shrimp will become mushy if cooked too long.
• Or cook larger shrimp alone, and put a few in each individual bowlful to preserve their firm texture.
• Don't add too much Filé while cooking; instead, allow people to add it at the table.
• Tasso is a kind of heavily seasoned preserved smoked meat product usually made with pork shoulder available in most meat markets in and around SW Louisiana.
• "Gumbo Filé" is sassafras leaves dried and ground to a fine powder and is a common gumbo thickener and spice, particularly in and around SW Louisiana. It is wise to use sparingly initially, until you decide how much you like it; it does have a distinctive flavor. Sassafras root can be dug up and used to make a delicious herbal tea, but is not used for cooking.
• It is not necessary to de-bone meat for gumbo. Bones add flavor.
• If you're "up north", don't bother with sausage in your gumbo, since the kind of sausage sold in most markets is inauthentic and underseasoned by comparison to what most Creoles get locally. Look to a Wal-Mart for Manda brand andouille instead of sausage. They usually don't carry much, but it'll be there. This andouille resembles what most Creoles use for sausage and at least has a better smoked flavor/ better seasoning than most commercial sausages. You should order a bulk quantity of real smoked sausage or andouille and stow it in the freezer for later use.
• For roux gumbo, aluminum and enamel pots tend to be less than successful- their bases are too thin. A pot with a thicker bottom, such as a "roaster" generally works better.
• It's not "real Cajun" gumbo if you don't eat rice with the gumbo.
• Never serve slimy okra gumbo. If you do, first call it okra soup or something else and distance yourself from all things Cajun.
• How to deslime okra: First, wash and cut off the tops of the okra. Slice thinly, keeping in mind that the thicker the slices are, the longer the okra takes to de-slime. Put the sliced okra into a skillet with just enough oil to cover the slices. On a low heat, stir the okra continuously. Keep stirring and it will cook down. This may take a very long time- be patient. When the slime dissipates completely you should not be able to see any pieces of the pods, only a few of the soft, juicy seeds. This is unnecessary for frozen okra, which can be added straight to the gumbo.
• How to make roux: Add equal amounts of oil and flour in a pan, enough to cover the bottom about 1/4". Over a medium-high heat, stir this mixture constantly until it begins to brown. A light brown will make a "light" gumbo with a less intense flavor. The darker the color of the roux, the stronger the taste of the gumbo. Dark brown is acceptable, but black may indicate burning.
• The soup part of a gumbo is an expensive commodity on its own, even using cheaper cuts of meat, since the very bulk of it should be about half solid, half liquid. This means the startup cost of a single gallon pot of gumbo is nearly always upwards of $10- a whole stock pot posing the potentiality of costing $30- 90, depending on what's used, and whether or not the seasonings are already on hand. However, when served with rice, which is already cheap, and then again, doubles or more in size when it is cooked, the meaty gumbo can be used more sparingly, thus prolonging its life and serving many more guests or people.
• If using Shrimp, Crawfish or crabs, After getting the meat out Save the shells/heads and use them to make a great stock. Simply bring the shells to a high boil in water then simmer the shell pieces and shrimp or Crawfish heads for around a hour. THOROUGHLY strain the shells out of the stock and now you have a great start to your gumbo. Adding spices while making the stock is dependant on whether or not your going to add spices later on while making your gumbo.
• Making one's own gumbo, and doing so well, is a labor of love. It takes a lot of time to make, and many years to perfect what will become your own personal recipe. Gumbo, like brisket, biscuits, and perfect apple pie, is something the cook needs be in the long haul for.

Warnings

• Stir gumbo at least once every ten minutes to prevent sticking.
• When making roux, use a cast iron skillet. Non-stick may be used, though it is said that getting teflon extremely hot (fine for sautée, but not for roux or frying) releases certain toxins, and should not be used unless it's the only choice you have.
• Roux gets extremely hot, and should never be touched at any point. It can cause third degree burns in an instant.
• Do not touch ground cayenne with bare hands unless you make sure to wash them afterwards, lest you get it in your eyes. Though this is an ultimately harmless experience (your eyes will not be damaged), it is fairly painful.
• Be careful of the roux pan- it will get extremely hot, as does the roux.

Things You'll Need

• Two or more different varieties of meat or seafood
• Large stock pot or other pot for cooking