Of Roux and the Benefits of Slime

I finally did it.  Nearly ten years of living in New Orleans and I finally tried my hand at making gumbo.  And I didn't embarrass myself!  I found some tender small okra at Hong Kong Market on the Westbank and decided it was time.  I scoured through a number of recipes and read several gumbo-making tips in my favorite southern cookbook, Talk About Good, published by the Junior League of Lafayette.  As an aside, despite this book's heavy reliance on lard and eggs, etc. (it is southern), I have found its recipes easily adaptable to the vegan diet.  That is, it is easy to substitute egg replacer for eggs or vegetable shortening for lard, and these recipes are so solid and contain so many other wholesome ingredients, that they still come out delicious with these minor tweakings.  But back to the gumbo.

I was intimidated by the roux.  I had heard that one's entire gumbo depended on this first simple, but tedious step.  I mixed equal parts canola oil and flour and I stirred this forever, in the heaviest pot I own, over relatively low heat.  I did not get my roux as chocolaty brown as some gumbo devotees require, but I got it a nice deep golden color and managed not to burn even a speck of the flour.  I was pleased.  To cool down this molten concoction, I stirred in a bunch of diced onions and my kitchen instantly smelled like heaven.  In future, I will go ahead and stir all of the vegetables, save the okra, into the lava-hot roux: garlic, celery, green pepper, tomato.  

But for this go around, I added those components after the roux had cooled.  I put everything, including the okra, in a larger pot with a bunch of homemade vegetable broth.  Another thing I learned whilst making this trial gumbo: for my preference, it is utterly unnecessary to "deslime" the okra.  I had read that you should subject your little okras to a hot/cold water bath or sauté the bejeezus out of it to get that slime out.  I began sautéing mine but, after only a minute or so, decided this would precook the okra more than I wanted.  So I turned off the heat and resolved that, slime-be-damned, I would never again do this to my gumbo okra.  I only regret that I added the not-quite-precooked okra to the gumbo too soon.  It fell apart more than I would have liked by the time the gumbo was done and, for an all vegetable gumbo, that left very little texture.  In this case, I ended up adding some fried tofu so my gumbo would have something substantial in it.  However, in future attempts, I will just add the okra later.  Additionally, I have determined that if you do not dig okra slime, you just should not be using it.  Especially in gumbo where, in addition to the roux, the slime helps thicken everything up.

So I cooked the gumbo and cooked it and cooked it and, lo and behold, it started to get that amazing red-brown, vaguely oily quality.  Effing A.

If I remember correctly (this gumbo attempt occurred before the storm of French Quarter Fest, Jazz Fest and, in general, April in New Orleans), I added my seasoning early.  Cayenne and Tony Chachere's, primarily.   I served the gumbo with rice, naturally, and some green onion.  It was freaking wonderful with a rich and complex flavor.  I have read that the only way to achieve superior gumbo is to make it and make it again.  I plan on looking for more okra this very afternoon.