sgt_zim
AH legend
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2017
- Messages
- 4,543
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- 17,440
- Location
- Richmond, Texas
- Media
- 33
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- 1
- Member of
- NRA, Houston Safari Club Foundation, NWTF
- Hunted
- South Africa, Idaho, Texas, Louisiana
Chicken prawn & sausage are my basic ingredients for Cajun gumbo, I don't shred the chicken, just chop it up and throw it in. I use Spanish chorizo sausage because of the stronger flavour and add a few cubes of smoked bacon to boost that up. For my version of Creole gumbo it's all seafood, no meat, as seafood is relatively cheap here in Australia, prawns, mussels, clams, scallops and a firm white fish like cod or shark. Adding a good sprinkling of red chili flakes warms it up. The one essential vegetable that is sometimes hard to get fresh in Oz is okra. When I go hunting or trout fishing during the winter I take frozen gumbo in my pack and by eats time it's thawed and ready to heat up over the fire.
The proper sausage for gumbo is Andouille. I can get it here in Houston, but the selection is usually a bit thin, so I just end up using regular Chappel Hill (local in Texas) pork or pork/venison sausage.
Some Cajuns swear that no self-respecting chef would ever use okra to thicken gumbo. Okra is so bad, they say, even hogs won't eat it. While that's true, hogs will also eat their own turds. I don't base my culinary habits off of what hogs eat. Those Cajuns say that the only proper thickener is gumbo filé powder (ground up sassafras leaves).
The chicken, I usually boil with an onion and a couple stalks of celery, plus Toney Chachere's seasoning. I reserve the broth and use it in the gumbo after the roux, onions, celery, and okra have been cooked down.