My first foray into making gumbo and now I know what all the fuss is about. The dark roux has a very special taste; earthy, bosky and musky. It works so well with seafood and smoky sausage*. I'll make versions of this again for sure. A total delight.
* Ideally the sausage should be andouille but as thats impossible to source in the UK, I used a good quality Bavarian style sausage. Do not use chorizo - it doesn't work!
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the roux:
1½ tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
For the gumbo broth:
1 small stick of celery, finely chopped
1 small green pepper, finely chopped
½ a large onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 or 2 fresh bay leaves
450ml fish stock
1 green jalapeno pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
½ tsp hot chilli (optional)
To complete the gumbo
8-9 okra, some trimmed and left whole, some sliced into rings
1 medium sized smoked sausage, cut into chunky slices (I used a Bavarian sausage)
A selection of fresh seafood for two. I used:
1 small cooked crab (including claws), shelled
2 large crevettes shell on, shell removed but tail left on, to serve
10 mussels
Method
For the roux
* Ideally the sausage should be andouille but as thats impossible to source in the UK, I used a good quality Bavarian style sausage. Do not use chorizo - it doesn't work!
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the roux:
1½ tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
For the gumbo broth:
1 small stick of celery, finely chopped
1 small green pepper, finely chopped
½ a large onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 or 2 fresh bay leaves
450ml fish stock
1 green jalapeno pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
½ tsp hot chilli (optional)
To complete the gumbo
8-9 okra, some trimmed and left whole, some sliced into rings
1 medium sized smoked sausage, cut into chunky slices (I used a Bavarian sausage)
A selection of fresh seafood for two. I used:
1 small cooked crab (including claws), shelled
2 large crevettes shell on, shell removed but tail left on, to serve
10 mussels
Method
For the roux
- Heat the oil in a pan and add the flour, stirring as you go. Simmer gently stirring from time to time to start with until the roux begins to turn golden, then keep stirring constantly.
- Keep simmering until the roux becomes caramel brown. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a pan and add the finely chopped celery, green pepper and onion. Cook gently until the mixture softens.
- Stir the brown roux into the pan and add the stock. The mixture will seize up at first but then loosen.
- Add the bay leaves, jalapeno, chilli, okra and sausage. Stir and simmer gently for ten minutes. Add more stock if needed.
- Add the seafood - if using large crevettes you can add those first and part cook, before adding the mussels and crab.
- Simmer gently until the shellfish and crevettes are cooked. Serve with rice.
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