Seafood recipes, Boo’s shrimp and crab gumbo recipe (2024)

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for shrimp and crab gumbo.

Oct 16, 2012 2:15am

By Shane Mitchell

3 hrs preparation
1 hr 15 mins cooking plus standing
Serves 8

In the Deep South of the USA, writes Shane Mitchell, the way you make your gumbo depends on the answer to one question: who's your mama?

"Gumbo is what your mama taught you," says Janice "Boo" Macomber. "And there are as many gumbos as there are mamas." We're drinking Miller Lites in the cluttered kitchen at Boo's fishing camp, a raised shack next to an alligator-infested canal that empties into southern Louisiana's Vermilion Bay. Boo, who grew up in Abbeville, has eaten gumbo her whole life, and it's one of the things she teaches at the New Orleans Cooking Experience, an informal culinary school for beginners.

The term "gumbo" is derived either from the Bantu "ki ngombo" for okra or the Choctaw "kombo" for filé, a Native American seasoning of finely ground dried sassafras leaves. Both make appearances in many versions of the dish. The origins of gumbo reflect the colonial-era migration of cooks and ingredients from Europe and West Africa to this low-lying state on America's Gulf Coast. It's a kissing-cousin of French bouillabaisse and Caribbean callaloo, but like most melting pot-dishes, gumbo lacks definitive pedigree. Okra and filé are primarily thickening agents, although they can both overwhelm more delicate ingredients, which is why some cooks leave them out entirely. 

Nonetheless, there are two immutable aspects that define gumbo. All recipes start with a roux and an onion-celery-capsicum mirepoix that Boo refers to as the holy trinity. A proper Cajun roux is a different beast from its French ancestor and takes much more time and patience. Browning flour is not a technique for the inattentive cook: when added to roiling vegetable oil, it requires constant stirring to prevent scorching, or worse, the volatile spatter that New Orleans chef Donald Link calls "Cajun napalm". A well-tempered cast-iron casserole is the best equipment for preparing gumbo. "One pot, one spoon, one plate" is Boo's line.

Boo gradually reduces the heat as the flour darkens in hue. The finished roux, she says, should be "the colour of the bayou after a heavy rain". It takes at least an hour to reach this stage. Sometimes I cheat by dry-browning flour in a skillet ahead of time.

The onions should be allowed to sweat in the roux for a few minutes before celery and capsicum grace the pot. Then stock is introduced gradually. Don't stop stirring, or else you'll get lumps. (A wooden spoon proves more effective than a whisk.) This is the stage when gumbo becomes a matter of personal taste. Boo, whose daddy was a shrimper, prefers seafood over chicken-and-sausage, rabbit or duck, which are some of the other classic gumbos found along the Gulf Coast. I clean partly steamed crabs and toss in the bodies. Another hour of simmering passes and more empty beer cans are stacked on the counter. Boo is down on her knees, head deep in a cupboard filled with Zatarain's cayenne pepper, Queen Bee "The True Cajun Queen" Seasoning and instant Community Coffee. "There's rice in here somewhere," she mutters. She emerges with a plastic sack of Mahatma medium-grain. It's the standard accompaniment to gumbo, although some Cajuns like to serve creamy potato salad as an auxiliary side. Louisiana falls squarely within America's rice-growing region. Half the year, fields throughout Acadiana - west of the Atchafalaya Basin, east of Lake Charles - are flooded for planting season. These also happen to be an ideal environment for raising crawfish, a close relative of yabbies.

"Boo," I ask, "Do you ever put 'crawdads' in your gumbo?"

She turns away from the stove and peers over her reading glasses. "A sacrilege," she says solemnly. "I never use okra or filé either. Just don't want the flavour taking over from the shrimp, the crab. But I like bay leaves. That's the difference between my mama's gumbo and mine."

Ingredients

900 gm large uncooked king prawns, peeled, deveined, shells and heads reserved
6 blue swimmer crabs, back shell and gills discarded, body halved and reserved, legs and claws reserved
175 ml vegetable oil (¾ cup)
150 gm plain flour (1 cup)
3 white onions, diced
4 large celery stalks, diced
1 green capsicum, diced
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp cayenne, or to taste
2 dried bay leaves
450 gm picked crabmeat
½ cup spring onion tops, coarsely chopped (firmly packed)
½ cup flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped (firmly packed)
To serve: boiled medium-grain white rice, potato salad and Tabasco

Method

Main

1
Bring 3.8 litres water to the boil in a stockpot, add prawn shells and heads, and crab claws and legs. Reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced by half (2-3 hours). Strain (discard solids) and set aside.
2
Heat vegetable oil over low-medium heat in a large casserole or saucepan. Add flour and stir continuously with a flat-edged wooden spoon until mixture starts to change to the colour of cream (5-10 minutes).
3
Continue to stir until roux begins to darken (15-30 minutes).
4
Reduce heat to very low and stir continuously until roux is dark brown (15-30 minutes; be careful, mixture can quickly burn if left unattended).
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5
Add onions and stir until the liquid from the onions loosens the mixture (2-3 minutes).
6
Add celery, capsicum, garlic and 60ml water and stir occasionally until vegetables start to soften (15 minutes).
7
Gradually add 1.25-1.5 litres prawn and crab stock (reserve remainder for another use), stirring continuously to create a medium-thick soup base. Season to taste with Worcestershire, cayenne and sea salt flakes.
8
Increase heat to medium, add crab bodies and bay leaves and simmer until crab is cooked (20-30 minutes).
9
Add prawn meat and cook until just pink (1-2 minutes).
10
Remove pan from heat, stir in crabmeat, spring onion tops and parsley and stand for flavours to develop (20-30 minutes). Remove bay leaves and discard. Serve gumbo hot with rice, <b><a href="/recipes/recipe-search/masterclass/2012/10/donald-link’s-potato-salad/">potato salad</a></b> and Tabasco.

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Seafood recipes, Boo’s shrimp and crab gumbo recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the 2 rules of gumbo? ›

Thou Shalt Always Use a Bowl. If you use a plate, it is not gumbo it is rice and gravy! Thou Shalt Only Use a Wooden Spoon. There is only one kind of spoon that can enter a gumbo pot and that is a wooden one.

What is the secret to good gumbo? ›

Great gumbo starts with roux, a flavorful thickening agent made from equal parts fat and flour. Once the roux is a deep golden color, add diced veggies and sausage to the mix. Then, incorporate beef bouillon, hot sauce, tomatoes, and seasonings to intensify the flavor.

Find Out More ›

What is the difference between seafood gumbo and regular gumbo? ›

Meat-based gumbo may consist of chicken, duck, squirrel, or rabbit, with oysters occasionally added. Seafood-based gumbo generally has shrimp, crab meat, and sometimes oysters.

View Details ›

How do you keep shrimp from getting tough in gumbo? ›

Also, pay attention to when to add your ingredients. Shrimp should be added at the end of cooking so it doesn't get rubbery.

Find Out More ›

How to add more flavor to gumbo? ›

In order to develop a deep roasted flavor in your gumbo, you should cook your roux — being careful not to burn — until it is a deep dark brown color. "Roux needs to be cooked low and slow to bring out the nutty flavor and rich dark color without burning it," says Chef Dickensauge of Houndstooth Saloon in Chicago.

Read On ›

How long should you let gumbo simmer? ›

It takes at least 10-15 minutes alone to make the roux and another 1-3 hours for the gumbo to simmer before it's ready to be served. The flavors meld together and intensify making it very flavorful. If you don't have a jalapeño you can add in a hot sauce like tabasco, or leave out the spice all together if desired.

See Details ›

What makes gumbo taste so good? ›

Spices and herbs like parsley, thyme, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, and filé powder all add to the rich flavor profile of the gumbo.

Learn More Now ›

Should gumbo be thick or soupy? ›

Should gumbo be thick or soupy? Gumbo should be thick, almost like a stew.

Show Me More ›

Is gumbo roux better with butter or oil? ›

Butter adds great flavor, but since it has a lower smoke point than other fat sources (like vegetable or canola oil), it's more likely to burn when used in a darker roux. “In a dark roux,” says New Orleans–based chef Justin Devillier, “I'll mix butter with a high-heat oil” to keep the fat from scorching.

Tell Me More ›

Is gumbo better with or without tomatoes? ›

Turns out, your preference for tomatoes in gumbo comes down to whether you learned your skills from a Cajun cook or a Creole cook. (Learn about the difference here.) Cajun gumbo does not include tomatoes in the base, but Creole gumbo (typically shellfish or seafood gumbo) does call for tomatoes.

Explore More ›

What kind of rice is best for gumbo? ›

For purposes of this discussion, we will limit our focus to plain old polished white rice. Even then, it comes in different sizes — short, long and medium grain. I prefer medium grain rice in a gumbo, because the grains puff up, the perfect medium for a gumbo. The thick gumbo juice sticks to the grains just right.

Keep Reading ›

Is gumbo better the longer it cooks? ›

I like to add the “trinity” (onion, celery, bell pepper) to the roux before it gets to the desired color, because that'll help slow the cooking process. Once you have the roux the rest is simple. The longer you let the gumbo simmer the better it will be.

Should you cook shrimp before adding to gumbo? ›

I used pre-cooked/Cajun-seasoned shrimp which made this gumbo with okra that much easier, but you can just use raw shrimp. Adjust the spice to make it as hot or mild as you'd like. Leftovers freeze well. Serve with rice and/or crusty French bread!

Why do you put vinegar in gumbo? ›

“Sometimes gumbo can taste really heavy with all that meat and oil and flour,” she explained. “The vinegar smooths out all that richness.”

Do you simmer gumbo covered or uncovered? ›

The key to great gumbo is patience. You need to be by the stovetop to stir, sear, saute and make the roux. For that portion of the recipe, I cook the gumbo uncovered. Once it is ready to simmer, I cover the gumbo.

What are the three types of gumbo? ›

Creole cooks in Louisiana usually prepare some variation of three basic recipes: a ''Creole gumbo'' that includes sausages, beef, veal, ham, chicken, whole crabs or shrimp and is thickened with roux and file powder; a simpler ''okra gumbo'' thickened with okra and including a variety of shellfish; and a ''gumbo aux ...

What is the culinary tradition of gumbo? ›

The Influence of Cultures

The melding of diverse cultures is evident in gumbo's ingredients. The French introduced roux, a mixture of fat and flour used to thicken the stew. The Spanish contributed spices and peppers, while African cooks brought okra and a rich array of flavors.

Keep Reading ›

Do tomatoes not go in gumbo? ›

Turns out, your preference for tomatoes in gumbo comes down to whether you learned your skills from a Cajun cook or a Creole cook. (Learn about the difference here.) Cajun gumbo does not include tomatoes in the base, but Creole gumbo (typically shellfish or seafood gumbo) does call for tomatoes.