Prawn, Okra and Chorizo Gumbo

The person who invented Gumbo really knew a thing or two about comfort food.


Prawn, Okra and Chorizo Gumbo
adapted from Lisa Fain's The Homesick Texan Cookbook
Serves 6

500g raw prawns, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup light olive oil
1/2 cup plain flour
1 small onion, diced
300g okra, sliced
1 1/2 litres chicken stock
1 chorizo sausage, diced
1 green capsicum, deseeded and diced
1 stick celery, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme, leaves picked
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Sea salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne
2 tablespoons chopped parsely
4 spring onions, finely sliced
Steamed rice for serving

Make a roux by heating the oil on a low flame in a large frying pan. When warm, add the flour and stir continuously until it is a peanut butter brown colour, about 25 - 30 minutes.

Add the onions to the roux and cook for about 5 minutes and then add the okra, capsicum and celery. Cook for another five minutes.

Bring the stock to boil in a large pan then reduce to simmer. Pour in the roux into the stock. Add the garlic, bay leaves, thyme leaves and Worcestershire sauce and bring the the boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 2 hours. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne.

Ten minutes before you want to serve, heat a pan and fry the chorizo until crisp. Add it to the stock along with the prawns, half the parsley and half the spring onions. Cook the gumbo until the prawns have turned pink. Serve the gumbo over hot rice and sprinkle with remaining parsley and spring onions.