Chicken and andouille gumbo
Units
Temperature
Servings
Ingredients
Gumbo
- 900 g boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 4 cm pieces rounded
- 350 g fully cooked andouille, cut into 8 mm coins rounded
- 110 g neutral oil rounded
- 110 g all-purpose flour rounded
- 300 g onion, diced rounded
- 200 g green bell pepper, diced rounded
- 160 g celery, diced rounded
- 20 g garlic, minced rounded
- 2 1/6 L unsalted chicken stock, kept warm rounded
- 18 g homemade Creole seasoning rounded
- 2 g dried thyme rounded
- 2 bay leaves rounded
- 15 ml Louisiana-style hot sauce rounded
- 50 g scallions, sliced rounded
- 25 g parsley, chopped rounded
- 8 g filé powder, optional and only for finished bowls (optional) rounded
Rice
- 320 g long-grain white rice rounded
- 575 ml water rounded
Method
Method
- Keep raw chicken and its tools separate. Brown sausage and chicken in batches in the 8 litre pot; remove them. The chicken will finish later.
- Add oil, then flour. Stir continuously with a long utensil, scraping the corners, for 25 to 45 minutes until dark mahogany with a nutty aroma. Roux is extremely hot and clings to skin. If black specks appear or it smells acrid, discard it and restart.
- Immediately add onion, pepper, and celery to stop browning. Cook 6 minutes, then add garlic for 30 seconds. Gradually whisk in warm stock without splashing.
- Add chicken, seasoning, thyme, bay, and hot sauce. Simmer gently 55 to 70 minutes until chicken is tender and reaches 74°C. Return sausage for the final 15 minutes. Stir in scallions and parsley.
- Meanwhile cook rice separately in the measured water. Rest gumbo 10 minutes. Serve over rice. Offer filé at the table or stir it in only after boiling has stopped; boiling filé can make the gumbo stringy. This roux-thickened formula contains no tomato and no okra.
Ingredient substitutions
- Fully cooked Louisiana andouille is preferred. In Germany use firm cooked Krakauer or smoked Mettwurst; in Canada use cooked kielbasa or another smoky sausage. They are less peppery and garlic-forward. Verify the label: raw pork or beef sausage must reach 71°C and raw poultry sausage 74°C. Check salt before seasoning.
- Filé powder may be ordered from a specialist in Germany or a Cajun supplier in Canada. If unavailable, omit it; the dark roux still supplies body, but the herbal sassafras note is lost. Never compensate by boiling filé.
- Homemade Creole seasoning controls salt. Commercial blends in either region vary; reduce separate salt and do not use garlic salt or onion salt.
Notes
- Gumbo is a stock-based stew served with separate rice, unlike jambalaya, where rice cooks in the pot. Louisiana households vary; this is one dark-roux, no-okra route.
- Cool gumbo and rice separately in shallow containers within 2 hours. Refrigerate 3 to 4 days. Freeze gumbo without rice for up to 3 months.
- Bring reheated gumbo to a rolling boil while stirring and verify solid chicken pieces reach 74°C. Reheat rice separately to 74°C.