Fixing Isaac Toups's Beginner Gumbo Recipe

Isaac Toups's is a chef from Lousiana, who stars in many Cajun-themed YouTube videos showing how to the cook the staple dishes of the area: gumbo, jambalaya, dirty rice, things of that nature. His gumbo video on Munchies first introduced me to that delicious stew, and I've been hooked ever since. In fact, I don't really make chili anymore, because if I'm going to put a bunch of things in a pot and eat it I'd rather make gumbo.

This recipe is excellent for a beginner in gumbo. No advanced ingredients or requirement to buy "Bayou Bob's Cajun Spice Mix" or whatever, you can make it with flour, oil, and vegetables you can buy anywhere in America. There's one problem, though.

Where's the okra?

I'm sure Toups understands how important okra and file is to gumbo, so I don't know why in his gumbo recipe he neglects to add either. Gumbo has a ropy, gooey texture that is obvious when you pull your stirring spoon from the mixture. The plant mucus from okra could very well be the reason why gumbo has the name it does. So it's weird to me that my first exposure to gumbo was missing an essential ingredient.

So it's imperative to fix that basic recipe and turn it into an actual good beginner gumbo recipe, so let's go through it step-by-step.

The roux

• 0.5 cup flour
• 0.5 cup neutral oil

No change here from what Toups recommends. Flour and oil is all you need to get the roux started. You should have all your veggies chopped and ready to go, because you can't leave the roux unattended at all. Toups tells you to go "low and slow" for your first roux, but if you do it could take up to 45 minutes to be complete. I say fuck that and just go for it on medium high heat and get it over with as fast as possible. It will bubble as a blonde color for a while then turn brown quickly, so keep stirring and be ready to add the veggies at a moment's notice.

The roux will be complete when it reaches a chocolate brown. The photo below is just about ready.

The veggies

• 1 yellow onion
• 1 bell pepper
• 2 ribs of celery
• 1 jalapeño pepper
• 1 bag of frozen okra
• 10 cloves of garlic
• 4 cups of vegetable or chicken stock

The holy trinity: onion, bell pepper, and celery, are the foundation to many Cajun recipes. Get all veggies chopped up and on a plate ready to be added before starting the roux. You can add as many cloves of garlic as you want, but you definitely want a lot. I always buy a bag of the chopped frozen okra and just pour the whole thing in, because it's the easiest thing ever for a home cook. If the pre-cut okra isn't available, you might be able to find the whole okra and you'll just have to chop it along with everything else.

Add the trinity first, and let them absorb the heat from the scorching hot roux for about 2 minutes. Then add the garlic. Then add everything else and pour in the stock, slowly, while stirring. The stew will immediately adopt its signature brown color. Also, Toups adds some beer to his gumbo, which you can do if you want, but I don't think it matters.

Seasoning

• 2 tsp salt
• 30-40 cracks of black pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• 0.5 tsp cayenne pepper

Yup, that's all you need. You are welcome to use whatever cajun/creole seasoning mix you have, but it is absolutely not necessary for a great home-made gumbo. Toups does go HAM with the black pepper, which I think is good advice. He adds 40 cracks in a jambalaya video, which is a recipe that is almost identical to gumbo except you add the rice directly into the stew rather than serving on top of the rice. I say go nuts with the black pepper. Online he recommends 1 tsp if you must add it by volume. I also skip the bay leaves sometimes and I can't tell a difference, but I think bay leaves are one of those foods that taste different to different people, so you do you.

Protein

Here's the thing, you don't even need meat to make a delicious gumbo. You can make this totally vegetarian with just the ingredients above, and it will taste great! If I'm cooking for vegetarians I usually just do the veggies or sometimes I will buy some Beyond Sausage or something and add it in.

If I add meat to my gumbo, I usually do exactly what Toups recommends, which is chicken thighs and andouille sausage. Can't really argue with that. You can also add in whatever shellfish, like shrimp or crab claws. Kinda depends what you have access too. But this again is probably up to preference. A lot of people might think that gumbo always has shellfish in it, but there are actually a lot of varieties. Neil St. Blues is a good Cajun/Southern restaurant that is close to where I live that has a gumbo with turkey sausage and chicken, for example.

If you do stick with vegetables only, I would recommend adding more salt to taste while simmering. The reason is because the sausage comes with a lot of its own salt and spices; if you aren't adding that then you'll want to make up for it.

Simmer

Whether you add meat or not, cover your gumbo and let it simmer for an hour or three hours or longer if you desire. Toups recommends three hours while stirring every 30 minutes. Sounds fine. I make gumbo in a dutch oven and when I'm done eating, I will cover whatever is left and put the whole thing in the fridge over night. I then warm it back up the next day for lunch or dinner, and it tastes even better. Gumbo gets better the longer it has to cook.

Rice

Make some white rice and serve in a bowl with the gumbo. I like to fill my bowl half with rice and half with gumbo. I add the rice first, and then squish it up against one side of the bowl so it fills as close to one half of the bowl as possible, then ladle the gumbo into the voided other half.