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Prep time
20 minutes
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Cook time
1 hour 45 minutes
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Serves
4
Author Notes
Gumbos are traditionally eaten with rice, but I had this wild idea to turn it into a thick, slurp-acious ramen broth. So judge me all you want for doing this, but I did do it, and I can proudly say that I didn’t regret it one bit, because it tasted surprisingly good!
Just a disclaimer, I’m not particularly familiar with gumbo, and I’ve only had it once on a solo trip to New Orleans over 5 years ago. So my gumbo recipe is based on that one-off taste that I had, bolstered with some good ol’ internet recipe research.
I started the gumbo by making a roux with oil and flour, and cooked it for an hour until it’s chocolate-y brown. Then, I chopped up all my vegetables — onions, celery, green bell peppers, garlic — sweated them down, added in cajun spice, along with the roux and chicken stock. I then finished it off with shredded chicken, slices of andouille sausage, and some okra as well to thicken it.
I then cooked up my instant ramen noodles, strained it out dry, and served it slathered in the gumbo. Not tooting my own horn here, but I think the gumbo was really flavourful on its own. But what really sold me was the way the thick gumbo sauce coated the noodles, making every strand, every slurp, exceedingly delicious and very very hearty! —Jun
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Ingredients
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½ cups
(120ml) vegetable oil, divided
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½ cups
(60g) all-purpose flour
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4 pieces
(10 oz./283g) andouille sausage, sliced into ½-inch coins
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1
white onion, diced
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1
green bell pepper, diced
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2
celery ribs, diced
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4
cloves garlic, minced
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½ teaspoons
salt
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½ teaspoons
paprika
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⅛ teaspoons
cayenne
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⅛ teaspoons
black pepper
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1
bay leaf
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1
sprig thyme
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3 cups
(720ml) chicken stock
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10
medium okra, thinly sliced
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12 ounces
(340g) shredded chicken
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4
pieces instant ramen
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4
soft-centered eggs
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1
stalk scallion, thinly sliced, to garnish
Directions
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Start with the roux. Add all but one tablespoon of oil and all of the flour into a medium pot. Cook this over medium heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring constantly until the roux darkens into a dark, chocolate-y brown. Set aside when done.
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Add the remaining one tablespoon of oil into a large pot or Dutch oven placed over medium heat. Then add in the sliced andouille sausages and sear for about 2 minutes on each side until nicely caramelized. When done, remove the sausages from the pot and receive for later.
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Add the diced onions into the pot and sweat for 5 minutes. Then, add in the diced bell pepper, diced celery, minced garlic, and salt, and saute for a further 5 minutes. Add in the paprika, cayenne, black pepper, bay leaf, and thyme, and saute for 2 more minutes until fragrant.
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Pour the roux into the pot, along with the chicken stock. Give it a stir and bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Cook for 30 minutes.
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Finally, add in the okra, shredded chicken, and seared sausage slices, and simmer for another 30 minutes.
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While the gumbo is in its final simmering stage (step 5), bring a big pot of water to a boil, and boil up the instant ramen according to its packet instructions (usually 2-4 minutes), then strain out the noodles and serve in bowls.
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Ladle 3-4 scoops of gumbo onto the ramen, serve with an egg, and garnish with sliced scallions. Eat!
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