Gumbo

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

Gumbo is a Louisiana stew thickened with a dark roux, with the vegetables known as the holy trinity (onion, pepper and celery), smoked sausage and chicken. It is served over rice, and the colour of the roux sets the flavour. This version toasts the flour dry in the oven rather than stirring it in fat.

Gumbo is a Southern dish with roots in Black and African American communities.

One recipe toasts 125 g of flour in a frying pan to the colour of ground cinnamon, then cooks the vegetables, simmers chicken thighs in stock and finishes with andouille and vinegar. The other makes a roux of 108 g of butter and 125 g of flour, cooked to a deep brown, and adds shredded chicken and andouille.

Ingredients

For the gumbo

  • 125 g plain flour
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 green pepper, finely chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • Fine sea salt and black pepper
  • 950 ml chicken stock
  • 900 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 225 g andouille or other smoked sausage, sliced
  • 6 spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • Hot sauce, to taste

To serve

  • 300 g long-grain rice, cooked

Method

  1. Toast the flour Heat the oven to 220°C. Spread the flour in a 30 cm ovenproof frying pan and toast it, stirring now and then, for 40 to 55 minutes, until it is the colour of ground cinnamon. Cool completely.
  2. Cook the vegetables Heat the oil in a large heavy pot and cook the onion, pepper and celery for about 10 minutes until soft. Add the thyme, garlic, paprika, bay leaves, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute.
  3. Cook the chicken Pour in half the stock, add the chicken and simmer for 15 to 17 minutes, until cooked through. Lift out the chicken and keep the pot on the heat.
  4. Thicken Gradually whisk the remaining stock into the cooled flour, then whisk this into the pot. Add the sausage and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until thickened.
  5. Finish Shred the chicken and return it to the pot with the spring onions. Take off the heat, stir in the vinegar, taste, add hot sauce and take out the bay leaves. Serve over rice.

Food safety

Check that the chicken is cooked through, with no pink and juices running clear. Hot flour and a hot pan burn: use oven gloves. Cool leftovers quickly and reheat until piping hot.

Whisk the stock into cool flour to avoid lumps.

Gumbo is better the next day.

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