Gumbo vs. Jambalaya

Jambalaya and Gumbo might not have too much in common, but unless you’re in the south they’re often confused. I’ve chosen to make a Creole-style Gumbo made with seafood and a Cajun-style Jambalaya made with Andouille sausage and Tasso ham. Allow me to clarify. Let the battle begin and COOK ON! 🤘🏻Adam

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Gumbo vs. Jambalaya

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Shrimp & Crab “Creole” Gumbo

• 1 pound Smoked Andouille Sausage, cut into small coins (3-4 medium links)
• 1 cup Neutral Oil
• 1 cup AP flour
• 1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
• 2 Celery Stalks, diced
• 1 Yellow Onion, diced
• 5 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 3 tbsp Cajun-Creole Seasoning
• 1 Tomato, seeded and diced
• 8 cups Shellfish Stock
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 2-3 Blue Crab Leg Clusters
• 15 large Shrimp, shelled and detained
• 1 cup Lump Crab Meat
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp Gumbo File Powder
• Kosher Salt, to taste
• Black Pepper, to taste

Chicken & Tasso Ham “Cajun” Jambalaya

• 1.5 pound Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs, cut into 1 inch chunks (4-6 medium thighs)
• ½ pounds Tasso Ham or Smoked Sausage, cut into small coins (3-4 medium links)
• 1/2 cup Neutral Oil
• 1/2 cup AP Flour
• 1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
• 2 Celery Stalks, dice
• 1 Yellow Onion, diced
• 5 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 3 Tbsp Cajun-Creole Seasoning
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 6 cups Chicken Stock
• 2 cups Long-grain Rice
• 2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
• Kosher Salt, to taste
• Black Pepper, to taste

Cajun-Creole Spice Blend

• 3 tbsp Onion Powder
• 2 tbsp Garlic Powder
• 2 tbsp Dried Oregano
• 2 tbsp Dried Thyme
• 2 tbsp Black Peppercorn, ground
• 1 tbsp White Peppercorn, ground
• 1 tbsp Cayenne Pepper
• 2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 5 tbsp Smoked Paprika

InstructionsFahrenheitCelsius

Shrimp & Crab “Creole” Gumbo

1. In a large dutch oven or other girthy pot, brown the sausage over medium-high heat then remove and set aside.
2. Add the oil to the pot and heat over medium-high heat until it just begins to smoke. Dump in the flour and whisk vigorously to incorporate. Cook the roux until it turns to the color of a dark chocolate bar then add in the onions, celery, and bell pepper. The roux will darken further, this is a good thing. Season with salt and sweat the veggies down for 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Add the seasoning blend, diced tomato and browned sausage then cook for another 30 seconds. Add the bay leaves and pour in the stock, stirring to make sure there are few lumps. Cover the gumbo with a lid and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
3. Remove the lid, skim off any excess grease and scum on top of the simmering gumbo. Add in the crab clusters then cover and let simmer for another 30 minutes.
4. After an hour of total simmering time, add in the shrimp, lump crab meat and Worcestershire sauce then simmer uncovered for 5 more minutes.
5. Cut the heat and stir in the gumbo file powder.
6. Serve the gumbo in shallow bowls with a scoop of long-grain white rice and let those scallions rain on.

Chicken & Tasso Ham “Cajun” Jambalaya

1. Over medium-high heat, add a touch of oil to a heavy bottomed pot and brown the ham, remove and set aside. In the same pot, sear the chicken thigh chunks until deeply browned then remove and set aside.
2. Add the neutral oil to the pot, wait until it just begins to smoke then stir in the flour. Continuously stir until the roux becomes the color of a dark chocolate bar then add in the onion, green bell pepper and celery. Lower the heat to medium-low and sweat for 3 minutes then add in the minced garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Add in the Cajun-Creole seasoning and chicken stock then bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, uncovered and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 375F.
4. After an hour, add in the chicken thighs, Tasso Ham and sprinkle in the rice, then cover and bake the rice for 30-45 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid and meat juices.
5. Remove the Jambalaya from the oven, stir in the butter, and serve in a bowl with scallions and a vinegary Louisiana hot sauce.

Adam's Notes

Gumbo Notes

• Serve the Gumbo with thinly sliced scallions and long-grain white rice.
• Creole not thick gumbo, more like a soup.
• Go easy on the seasoning, the seafood will bring a certain level of salinity when added, less salt is more at first.
• The crab clusters are more for flavoring the soup and visual appeal, hence the addition of extra crab meat.
• Creole gumbo tends to have a bit of tomato product in it, while Cajun style usually leaves it out. If you don’t like it, leave it out.
• Cajun gumbo tends to chose a path of either meat (chicken, sausage, pork) or seafood (crab, shrimp, clams, oysters, etc.) but rarely do they mix the two. Creole cuisine, however, mixes meat and seafood regularly.
• Simmering the gumbo for an hour is essential for cooking off the “floury” taste from the roux and allowing the soup to develop flavor. Don’t rush it. You can even simmer the soup longer than an hour if time allows, just be sure to keep the lid on so it doesn’t reduce down too much.
• Any smoked sausage will do in place of Andouille sausage. Smoked beef, pork or veal sausages are all good substitutes.

Jambalaya Notes

• In all other cases, we rinse the rice. However this time we’re purposely choosing not to rinse the rice because the thin coating of starch on each grain will help to slightly thicken the Jambalaya.
• Cajun food GENERALLY does not include tomato product, while Creole does. In this case, we’re leaving it out.
• The veggies don’t need a lot of sweating time because the roux is so hot.
• Simmering the finished gravy for an hour will deepen the Jambalaya’s flavor and cook off any “floury” notes.
• Basmati rice is my choice of long-grain rice here.



Stuff that I Use:

Ground Gumbo File

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