Dark Roux Seafood Gumbo with Quick Shrimp Stock

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A Creole-style seafood gumbo built the patient way: a chocolate-brown roux stirred for a full 45 minutes, a 25-minute stock pulled from the shrimp shells you were going to throw away, and shrimp, crab and oysters slipped in during the last five minutes so nothing turns rubbery. This is the version restaurants charge close to thirty dollars a bowl for, and the only real ingredient is your attention.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb large shell-on shrimp (16-20 count), peeled and deveined, shells and tails reserved
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, quartered (skin on is fine)
• 1 stalk celery, halved
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 8 cups water
• 1 cup bottled clam juice (optional, for depth)

• 3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, finely diced
• 3 stalks celery, finely diced
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 8 oz andouille sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 8 oz lump crabmeat, picked over
• 8 oz shucked oysters with their liquor (optional)
• 8 oz lump or claw crab claws / small crab pieces, or extra shrimp
• 1 tsp filé powder (optional, for serving)
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 4 cups cooked long-grain white rice, hot
• Louisiana-style hot sauce, for serving

Instructions

1. Peel and devein the shrimp, saving every shell and tail. Refrigerate the shrimp meat on a plate, covered, until the very end. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high and add the shells; cook, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes until they turn bright pink-orange and smell toasty.
2. Add the quartered onion, halved celery stalk, smashed garlic, 2 bay leaves, peppercorns, 8 cups water and the clam juice if using. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer and cook uncovered 25 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids, and keep the stock hot over low heat. You should have about 7 cups.
3. Make the roux: in a heavy 6- to 8-quart Dutch oven, whisk the 3/4 cup oil and 3/4 cup flour together over medium heat until smooth. Now settle in. Stir constantly with a flat-edged wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom and corners, for 40 to 50 minutes. It will move from blond to peanut butter (about 20 minutes) to copper penny (about 35) to the color of dark milk chocolate. Never walk away, and never let it smoke — if you see black flecks, it's burnt and you must start over.
4. When the roux is dark chocolate brown and smells like toasted nuts, immediately dump in the diced onion, bell pepper and celery. The pan will hiss violently; keep stirring. The vegetables drop the temperature and stop the roux from cooking further. Cook 8 to 10 minutes over medium, until the onion is soft and translucent.
5. Stir in the minced garlic, paprika, thyme, cayenne, black pepper and tomato paste; cook 1 minute until fragrant. Add the sliced andouille and cook 3 minutes more.
6. Add the hot shrimp stock about 1 cup at a time, whisking smooth after each addition so the roux never clumps. Add the 2 bay leaves, Worcestershire and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, then lower to a lazy simmer — a bubble every second or two.
7. Simmer uncovered for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes and skimming any orange oil that pools on the surface (skim it; that's the difference between a clean gumbo and a greasy one). The gumbo should coat a spoon lightly and taste deep and roasted, not floury. Taste and adjust salt and cayenne now, while there's no seafood in the pot.
8. Raise the heat slightly so the gumbo is at a gentle simmer. Add the crab pieces and cook 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook 2 to 3 minutes, just until they curl into loose C shapes and turn opaque. Slide in the oysters with their liquor and the lump crabmeat, turn off the heat, and let the residual warmth finish them, about 2 minutes — the oysters are done the moment their edges ruffle.
9. Stir in the lemon juice, half the scallions and half the parsley. Fish out the bay leaves. Let the pot rest off heat 5 minutes.
10. Mound about 2/3 cup hot rice in the center of each wide bowl and ladle the gumbo around it. Top with the remaining scallions and parsley. Pass hot sauce and, if using, filé powder at the table — a small pinch stirred into each individual bowl, never into the pot.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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