re: TIL - You don;t cook your chicken first for Gumbo? (Halloween Edition)

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Watching Justin Wilson and Emeril.. Both of them just threw raw chicken in their gumbo and let it simmer... Ok. I always cooked my chicken first in onion, celery, salt water then added the chicken later, and used the water as a season broth. So... Have I been doing it wrong for 40 years?

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Those guys are old school. The game changes. But they will always be legends of the game.

Think of what Texas bbq used to be before Aaron Franklin. Now we refuse to go back to boring, plain bbq.

It’s ok for the same thing to happen with gumbo. Smoked or rotisserie chicken just gives a better flavor. It makes the gumbo more interesting. But i’m not a fan of just boiling the chicken. Yawn. With a simple boil you’re only gunning for a convenient stock without additional flavor.

You probably already cook the andouille before adding, so it’s not crazy to do the same with the chicken IF you do it for an additional and complimentary flavor.

And always use the carcass in a separate pot with boiling/simmering water for additional stock/broth as needed.