Seafood Gumbo Recipe

This generations old Seafood Gumbo Recipe is chock-full of tender shrimp, oysters and crabmeat swimming in a spiced broth that began with a deep roux.

Ingredients

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup all purpose flour or 3/4 cup, if you like a thicker gumbo

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped green onions about 8

¼ cup chopped green bell pepper

¼ cup chopped celery

1 tbsp minced garlic 3 to 4 cloves

½ tsp minced Scotch Bonnet pepper or to taste

1 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp salt or to taste

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp cayenne pepper

2 ½ quarts chicken stock or fish stock or combo of both

1 bay leaf

1 lb fresh or frozen okra sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined

1 pint shucked oysters

1 lb claw crabmeat picked over

Hot cooked rice for serving

¼ cup minced fresh parsley

Instructions

In a large Dutch oven or heavy soup pot, heat the oil over medium high heat until hot, almost smoking. Gradually whisk in the flour, being careful not to splash the mixture so you don't get burned. Reduce the heat to low and cook and stir the roux continuously until medium brown and smoth, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Increase heat to medium high. Add the onion, green onions, bell pepper, celery and stir until the vegetables are wilted but not browned, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic, chile pepper, thyme, salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Reduce the heat to low and cook to allow the flavors to marry, about 20 minutes.

Whisk in the warm stock in batches to prevent splattering. Add the bay leaf, then bring back to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and add salt as desired. Add the okra, shrimp, oysters, and crab and simmer until just cooked, another few minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and let stand for 1 hour for the flavors to mingle. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Return the pot to medium low heat just until the soup is hot again. Spoon into serving bowls, add hot rice as desired, and sprinkle with parsley.

Notes

The quality and freshness of the seafood that you use are large factors in the outcome of your gumbo. It doesn’t have to be high-end shellfish but be sure that your choices are ones that won’t make the next morning to be rougher than it has to be.

Making the roux requires extreme patience. For a seafood gumbo, you will need to get to a medium brown roux.

Slow cooking allows all the flavors of each and every one of the ingredients to come together. And think of it this way, low and slow means little to no chance of burning.

Watch the dish closely as it cooks so you avoid burning it.

Add additional flour to this gumbo if you prefer a thicker gumbo.