Chicken Gumbo
I omit the canola oil (to decrease calories) and make a roux using chicken stock and flour. I add cooked brown rice instead of serving it over rice.
I omit the canola oil (to decrease calories) and make a roux using chicken stock and flour. I add cooked brown rice instead of serving it over rice.
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- pepper to taste
- 1 cup celery chopped
- 1 green pepper diced
- salt to taste
- 1 pound andouille sausage sliced
- 5 cups chicken stock
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 2 tablespoons cajun seasoning
- 6 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup okra chopped
- 2 pounds boneless chicken cubed
- 2 cups cooked white rice for serving
- Carbohydrate 502.907092670675 g
- Cholesterol 1033.61582446087 mg
- Fat 292.980371564038 g
- Fiber 21.3608435925144 g
- Protein 361.486972978417 g
- Saturated Fat 64.1665975525955 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (4719g)
- Sodium 7212.04456959168 mg
- Sugar 481.54624907816 g
- Trans Fat 20.6216427653145 g
- Calories 6209 calories
Step-by-step
- In large soup pot over medium heat, warm 2T canola oil. Add chicken and saute, stirring occasionally, until cooked, about 10 minutes. Season with 1T Cajun seasoning, S&P. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Return pot to heat and add remaining oil and whisk flour to create a roux. Cook the roux until golden brown, stirring constantly with a spoon. Be sure not to let the roux burn. Add the onions, peppers, celery and okra and cook stirring occasionally until softened, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add chicken stock and remaining Cajun seasoning, sausage and chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Spoon rice into bowl and top with gumbo.
How dark should the roux actually get before the aromatic vegetables hit the pot? Rooted in the culinary traditions of southern Louisiana, gumbo relies on a thickened base that borrows terminology from French cooking while deploying starches in entirely indigenous ways. Cooking flour and fat together breaks down carbohydrate chains, reducing their thickening capacity while exponentially increasing toasted nutty aromas through the Maillard reaction. Whisking continuously over medium heat prevents scorching solids along the bottom surface of the heavy soup pot.
The Chemistry of Starch and Fat
Combining equal parts flour and lipid molecules creates a suspension where starch granules swell and trap liquids uniformly. Adding the diced yellow onions, celery, and green peppers halts the cooking of the flour immediately through moisture release, stabilizing the color at a rich golden brown. Simmering the mixture for 30 minutes allows the collagen from two pounds of boneless chicken and the rendered fats from sliced andouille sausage to emulsify completely into the five cups of chicken stock. Okra, containing mucilaginous soluble fiber, acts as an additional natural thickening agent alongside the browned flour.
- Stir the roux constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent bitter black spots from forming within 10 minutes.
- Maintain a gentle medium-low heat during the 30-minute simmer so the proteins in the meat remain tender rather than seizing.
- Store leftover portions in an airtight glass container within the refrigerator for up to four days.
