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Gumbo Z’Herbes With Crab and Prawns
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- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 3tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1yellow onion, diced
- 2shallots, minced
- 2garlic cloves, minced
- 1jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
- 8ounces fresh spinach
- 1bunch fresh curly kale, large stems removed
- 2cups vegetable stock, fish stock or clam juice
- 1(14-ounce) can coconut milk
- 1pound fresh or frozen okra, trimmed and cut into ¼-inch pieces
- 3medium Yukon Gold or other yellow potatoes, diced
- 1tablespoon filé powder
- 1tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1pound head-on prawns or shrimp, peeled and deveined
- ½pound lump crab meat (preferably Dungeness crab)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Cooked white rice, for serving
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large soup pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium. Add the onion, shallots, garlic and jalapeño, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the spinach, kale, stock, coconut milk and 1½ cups water, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the kale is wilted. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the greens to a blender or food processor; add 1 cup of the broth and blend until puréed.
- Step 2
Return the purée to the pot and add the okra, potatoes, filé powder and thyme. Let simmer for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add the seafood and continue cooking until the prawns are pink and the potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Step 3
To serve, spoon the rice into shallow bowls, and ladle the gumbo over the rice. Garnish with lemon wedges.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
If you get shrimps with their heads and shells on, and don’t want the heads on the shrimp when serving, you can quickly simmer up a shrimp stock for the liquid in this. Simply bring a pot of water to boil, adding a sliced onion and the tops and bottoms of a few stalks celery. Also in the water a teaspoon peppercorns and a few bay leaves. While this is at a good simmer peel your shrimp, and place the heads and shells in the simmering liquid and let it go another 15-20 minutes before straining.
I don’t under stand why this is so good. It is perfect for halibut. Makes a lot, 1.5 gallons or so. May not keep long. Using frozen vegetables it is a pantry dish. Jalapeños = 1 4 oz can green Chile+ some leftover Thai red chili in for 5 min Shrimp= 1pound frozen halibut + 1/2 pound frozen red salmon in 2 inch chunks Greens= 10 oz frozen spinach+10 oz frozen kale Okra= 4 oz frozen chopped green beans Stock = 2 Tbsp instant veggie boullion
I have to add it's nice to get some homemade file' online made in Louisiana. The best is traditionally made by the Houma Indian Nation. The smell of the homemade foraged wild and prepared in the wooden mortar is unbelievable. I often find some on etsy of ebay or I buy it when I see it at meat markets in Louisiana when I'm back there. It's so much more flavorful than the dried out massed produced stuff.
Taste was great, but... Please estimate a weight for "bunch of curly kale." I probably used too much. I pureed and had green paste--recommend immersion blender and chop. Used a pound of crab and a pound of shrimp. Could have used more. Some people wanted it hotter--maybe 2 jalapeños or pass the hot sauce. Some suggested adding Louisiana hot sausage. Will try again 'cuz it tasted good but looked horrible.
This was so delicious. From growing up in Louisiana there are roux-less gumbos that aren't as famous as Chicken and Andouille with a dark roux. You see them in Creole communities and in among Bayou Cajuns who fish and shrimp for a living. Instead of a flour roux okra and file' thicken the gumbo. This seems in that category. I added black pepper, red pepper, and white pepper to season everything. That's sort of the other trinity in Louisiana cooking. So good!
Not sure I would call this a Gumbo...so I added gumbo seasoning: Bay leaf, paprika, dry mustard, cumin, cayenne pepper. This gave the dish a deeper flavor profile. Loved a dish packed with super foods!
Not too flavorful, used chicken andouille but we should have browned it, needed another layer of flavor
Delicious! This is an old New Orleans Creole recipe. The addition of coconut milk gives it a modern touch. I added 1/4 cup Pernod and it was wonderful! The anise flavor complements the greens and seafood perfectly. Next time I will add oysters!
Needs some alterations. First, if using fresh okra, plan for additional 20 minutes of simmering prior to putting in the potatoes to let the okra break down and get soft. Cut the spinach and kale in half. The color of green was beautiful but too thick. Overall, seasoning is lacking. I added 1.5 TBL of Creole seasoning which helped up the sodium and overall spice. After that, I actually enjoyed the dish.
Made exactly as written but was an expensive endeavor for such a completely flavorless return. The texture was perfect though. Creamy and hearty. But jeez just a bland situation. I’ll need to rework adding seasonings today to figure out how I can salvage this. Not worth the effort.
This seemed pricey when I started cooking, but I made this tonight with shrimp and crab from Costco. The vegetables came from an organic farm where I belong. I added up the cost and decided that this recipe made enough for three meals for my husband and me – $5 per meal each, maybe less. My husband said it was a big winner. He is looking forward to the leftovers, which I plan to freeze. We added a lot of basil from our garden and some Louisiana hot sauce.
Looks like a chicken soup I made when my boys were very young. I threw leftover spinach in it and it turned the broth green. I told them is was Swamp Stew and they loved it. LOLOL I must try this, but not crazy about Okra.
Any suggestions for okra substitute?
This was the first gumbo I ever had or made, so I had no reference point, but it was enjoyable. To save time, I pureed the raw greens (spinach, and Swiss chard instead of kale) in a food processor with the (light) coconut milk before adding them to the pot and simmering as per Step 1. I used 100% seafood stock and no water. I did not seed the jalapeno, and still it lacked heat, so I served with Tabasco sauce. Some acid is essential, so do serve with lemon wedges.
Not sure I would call this a Gumbo...so I added gumbo seasoning: Bay leaf, paprika, dry mustard, cumin, cayenne pepper. This gave the dish a deeper flavor profile. Loved a dish packed with super foods!
I have to add it's nice to get some homemade file' online made in Louisiana. The best is traditionally made by the Houma Indian Nation. The smell of the homemade foraged wild and prepared in the wooden mortar is unbelievable. I often find some on etsy of ebay or I buy it when I see it at meat markets in Louisiana when I'm back there. It's so much more flavorful than the dried out massed produced stuff.
This was so delicious. From growing up in Louisiana there are roux-less gumbos that aren't as famous as Chicken and Andouille with a dark roux. You see them in Creole communities and in among Bayou Cajuns who fish and shrimp for a living. Instead of a flour roux okra and file' thicken the gumbo. This seems in that category. I added black pepper, red pepper, and white pepper to season everything. That's sort of the other trinity in Louisiana cooking. So good!
Taste was great, but... Please estimate a weight for "bunch of curly kale." I probably used too much. I pureed and had green paste--recommend immersion blender and chop. Used a pound of crab and a pound of shrimp. Could have used more. Some people wanted it hotter--maybe 2 jalapeños or pass the hot sauce. Some suggested adding Louisiana hot sausage. Will try again 'cuz it tasted good but looked horrible.
If you get shrimps with their heads and shells on, and don’t want the heads on the shrimp when serving, you can quickly simmer up a shrimp stock for the liquid in this. Simply bring a pot of water to boil, adding a sliced onion and the tops and bottoms of a few stalks celery. Also in the water a teaspoon peppercorns and a few bay leaves. While this is at a good simmer peel your shrimp, and place the heads and shells in the simmering liquid and let it go another 15-20 minutes before straining.
I don’t under stand why this is so good. It is perfect for halibut. Makes a lot, 1.5 gallons or so. May not keep long. Using frozen vegetables it is a pantry dish. Jalapeños = 1 4 oz can green Chile+ some leftover Thai red chili in for 5 min Shrimp= 1pound frozen halibut + 1/2 pound frozen red salmon in 2 inch chunks Greens= 10 oz frozen spinach+10 oz frozen kale Okra= 4 oz frozen chopped green beans Stock = 2 Tbsp instant veggie boullion
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