Seafood Okra Gumbo
- Level: Intermediate
- Yield: 12 first-course servings or 8 main-course servings
- Total: 1 hr 10 min
- Prep: 30 min
- Cook: 40 min
Ingredients
1/2 cup Italian plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh shallots
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green bell peppers
2 quarts fish stock
1 cup diced firm-fleshed fish, such as grouper, tile, monk or sea bass (about 1/2 pound)
1/4 cup chopped red bell peppers
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Black pepper
6 bay leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano leaves
1 teaspoon stemmed fresh thyme
1 cup fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined, (about 1/2 pound)
1 cup sliced fresh okra, (about 8 large)
2 teaspoons Creole Seasoning, recipe follows
1 cup shucked fresh oysters, in their liquor
1 cup fresh lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
1 teaspoon file powder (ground sassafras), (available in specialty food stores)
4 cups cooked white rice
Chopped green onions, for garnish
Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Directions
- Heat oil in a large pot over high heat, add onions, celery and bell peppers, and saute 1 minute. Season with salt and 4 turns of pepper and saute 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, garlic, and shallots, and saute, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes more.
- Stir in stock, then add fish, Worcestershire, hot sauce, bay leaves, basil, oregano and thyme, and bring to a boil. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium.
- Stir in shrimp, okra and Creole seasoning, and simmer 10 minutes. Fold in oysters and crabmeat and simmer 5 minutes more. Skim the impurities from the top of the gumbo, turn the heat to high and boil vigorously 5 minutes. Slowly sprinkle in the file, stirring to incorporate thoroughly, and cook, stirring, 2 minutes more.
- To serve, ladle gumbo into bowls or soup plates, add rice and sprinkle with green onions.
Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):
- Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
- Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William Morrow, 1993.