This Seafood Gumbo Recipe made with the delicious flavors of chicken, smoked sausage, shrimp, crab and aromatic vegetables enveloped in a luscious and savory rich roux.
5tablespoonkosher salt or seasoned salt(start with 5 tablespoons more will be needed)
5tablespoonpure ground gumbo file(start with 5 tablespoons more will be needed)
5tablespoongarlic powder(start with 5 tablespoons more will be needed)
5tablespoononion powder(start with 5 tablespoons more will be needed)
15oztomato sauce
Frying the chicken drumettes
1cupcanola oil(or vegetable oil)
1cup all purpose flour(for dredging (coating) drumettes)
6tablespoonCajun seasoning
8lbschicken drumettes
2tablespoonkosher salt(to taste)
2teaspoonblack pepper
Making the roux
2tablespoonoil(reserved from fried chicken + THE BROWN BITS)
2tablespoonbutter
¼cupall purpose flour
4cupschicken broth or stock(plus ¼ cup extra if roux is too thick)
1tablespoononion(chopped - noted above)
1tablespoonbell pepper(chopped - noted above)
1tablespooncelery(chopped - noted above)
2teaspoonkosher salt(to taste)
Instructions
Chop the onion, bell pepper, celery, and minced garlic. Put the chopped veggies in an airtight container or ziploc bag and place in the fridge until ready to use.
Cleaning the shrimp and prawns
First, remove the outer shell and legs if attached and discard.
Use a steak knife or paring knife to cut along the outer surface of the shrimp's back and sometimes its underbelly and remove the black vein that runs lengthwise and discard.
Place the de-veined shrimp in a bowl of cold water and move on to the next shrimp until all shrimp have been de-veined.
When all the shrimp have been de-veined, rinse them really well with cold water. Put the cleaned shrimp in a large ziploc bag and place in the fridge until ready to use.
Cleaning the crab
Remove all the legs from the crab's body and set aside.
Break the top shell and remove it from the body. Discard the top shell.
Remove the gills from the crab's body. Discard the gills.
Turn the crab over and remove the other layer from the crab's body. Discard that layer.
Remove the crab's tail and mouth. Discard the tail and mouth.
Dig out all of the gunk that you see. Discard the gunk. Rinse and remove more of the gunk and discard. Using a clean stiff chemical-free scrub brush, brush, away any hair and debris on the crab.
Rinse the edible crab parts well. Put into a large ziploc bag and place in fridge until ready to use.
Browning the sausage
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Slice the sausages on a bias or diagonal about a ¼ to ½ inch thick. Place them on a baking sheet in a single layer. Line with foil paper and a mist of cooking spray to prevent them from sticking. NOTE: Use 2 baking sheets if necessary. Bake until the fat has rendered about 20 to 25 minutes. Place sausage on a plate lined with layers of paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
Frying the chicken drumettes
If frozen, first thaw the drumettes. After thawing, place chicken on a baking sheet lined with layers of paper towels to absorb the excess liquid. Add more paper towels on top of the chicken and pat dry. Season with Cajun seasoning, kosher salt, and black pepper.
Add oil to a frying skillet. The size and depth of the skillet will determine how much cooking oil to use. The oil should be a couple of inches high in the skillet coming about halfway up the drumettes. The cooking oil should reach a temperature of 350 degrees F before adding chicken to the skillet.
Add flour to shallow dish and dredge each drumette in the flour gently shaking off any excess flour and place in skillet to fry until the drumettes are crispy golden brown and are cooked through. NOTE: fry the chicken drumettes in batches to prevent over-crowding in the skillet.
Remove drumettes from hot oil and place on a baking sheet lined with layers of paper towels to absorb the oil.
Making the roux
Place a skillet on the stove-top over medium heat. Add a mixture of butter and the oil (the oil that was used for frying the drumettes being sure to get those brown bits from the oil that's where the flavor lies).
When the butter/oil is hot, add in a couple tablespoons of the chopped veggies and saute until the veggies begin to soften, add in the flour and cook until the flour turns brown but catch it before it becomes burnt.
Slowing pour in the chicken broth while whisking vigorously until the roux begins to thicken. Lower the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Start with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and a dash of black pepper.
Allow the roux to cool. Pour into an airtight container and place in the fridge until ready to use.
Bringing it all together the DAY OF
Remove all ingredients from the fridge.
Fill the pot a little more than ½ full of water this will prevent the gumbo from overflowing when all the ingredients are added. Add the chopped veggies, kosher salt, Cajun seasoning, minced garlic, tomato sauce, gumbo file, and crab. Place on stove-top over medium high heat and stir. When the pot comes to a boil, add the sausage and continue to cook.
Meanwhile, heat up the roux in a small pot. After it's heated through, pour the roux into the larger pot with the other ingredients and allow it to continue cooking.
At about the 3 to 4 hour mark, add the fried drumettes to the pot and continue to cook. During this time, taste test and add more kosher salt, gumbo file, and Cajun seasoning to continue to develop the perfect gumbo flavor. This should be done throughout the cooking process.
Cook for about 5 to 6 hours. Add the shrimp to the pot at the very last minute as shrimp cooks really fast. This is also the time to add lobster if you'd like.
When done, serve over a bed of white rice and enjoy while hot.
Notes
The size of my pot: 12-½ inches in diameter and 9 inches in height.
In case you didn't know, the brown bits from frying the drumettes are full of flavor and enhances the flavor of the roux.
I recommend prepping all the ingredients the day before since gumbo takes a long time to cook.
By having the ingredients already prepped ahead of time, saves you so much time.
Cook in total for about 5 to 6 hours (while adding more kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and/or Cajun seasoning and gumbo file throughout the entire cooking process to develop the perfect gumbo flavor).
Add the prawns at the very last minute since they cook REALLY FAST.
You can use a combination of different sized shrimp although I prefer using large shrimp or jumbo prawns.
When purchasing crab from the market, ask the butcher to remove all the crab parts that are not edible so you're left with only the edible parts this will make cleaning easier.
Some markets have crab parts such as crab claws that are great for adding to gumbo such as Jonah crab claws.
Feel free to add stewed tomatoes or okra if you'd like (I do not care for either one especially okra, so I do not add them).
To make gumbo thicker, add a roux and allow the gumbo to cook until it reduces.
Lobster tails are also a great addition and should be added at the end like shrimp.
Although gumbo is relatively easy to prepare, getting that perfect flavor can be challenging which is why it requires a long cooking time for the most delicious flavor. So, patience is definitely a virtue when it comes to making gumbo.
In my opinion, gumbo can’t reach its maximum flavor in less than 3 hours. For optimum flavor, 5 to 6 hours of cooking time is best.
Similar to other soups or stews, gumbo is absolutely better the second day.