Question about seafood gumbo?

Thinner but darker IMO

I go lighter but not by much. Don't want the roux to overpower the seafood.

It's really a matter of taste. If you like seafood gumbo to be a little thinner, make it that way, taste it and determine whether you'd like to add more roux before you add the seafood. Remember that the darker the roux, the thinner the gumbo, so with dark roux to get some body, you need more roux. I prefer a very dark roux with seafood gumbo just like my chicken/turkey gumbo. I like the flavor darker roux imparts. That's also a matter of personal taste. A strong stock is important to the flavor in my opinion.

Remember that once you add the seafood, cook time will be substantially less than with a meat. Don't add the seafood until right before serving or you will have overcooked seafood. Seafood gumbo doesn't reheat as well either since the seafood could become overcooked unless reheated very gently and for a VERY short time. I only add the seafood I need for the servings at the time.

It tastes better the next day as with any gumbo, so most of the time, I make the gumbo up to the point of adding the seafood, cool it and refrigerate it overnight. I reheat the next day, taste for seasoning and adjust if needed. Then, I add the seafood. I'm not saying this is necessary. It's the way I do it.

One person's overcooked is another's just right. I've reheated plenty of seafood gumbo in my day and no one's ever recoiled at a shrimp that cooked too long. I grew up on longer-cooked seafood, and I don't mind it at all.

In fact, I'd prefer a longer cooked shrimp gumbo to the restaurant trick of dropping uncooked shrimp into a precooked gumbo base. That way, the shrimp are too shiny/perfect and al dente. Fine for boiled shrimp, but I like the long-soaked texture.

Now, crabmeat: yes, it goes stringy if you stir too much and reheat the gumbo. The answer there is simply to fold in a bit more crabmeat before serving.

I adore the flavors and textures of reheated gumbo. It always seems better after three or four days.

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One person's overcooked is another's just right.

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I can't stand soft or mushy shrimp. I don't like the texture at all. Different strokes for different folks.

I had some shrimp gumbo to go from a restaurant several months ago. The shrimp were mushy. The gumbo base was pretty good. I took out all the mushy shrimp, threw them away, defrosted some shrimp from the freezer and simmered those in the base. Perfect. For me.

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I find using more than 1 cup of oil makes the gumbo way too oily and effects the taste.

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Skim the oil off the gumbo as it cooks. I make enough gumbo at least 3 times a year to feed over 100 people and that requires a lot of roux. I'll skim the oil off the top of the gumbo as it slowly cooks.

I find as you add cool/cold ingredients to the pot, it makes the oil rise up a bit more and easier to skim.

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Darker? Interesting, I would have thought it should be lighter. Thanks!

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The rule of thumb is the lighter the meat, the darker (and therefore thinner) the roux. Seafood gumbo calls for very dark brown roux (or black if you're brave).

When I make my vegetarian gumbo, which serves 8, I use 3 tablespoons vegetable oil and 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour to make my roux. I think it would be similar to a seafood gumbo.

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Soy Boi

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vegetarian gumbo

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