Ken Albala’s Gumbo Noodle Soup
Serves 1 (multiply as necessary) This soup replicates the flavors of a good gumbo as faithfully as possible but switches around a few things, most notably rice for a weird kind of okra noodle. There is no reason you couldn’t use a vegetable stock and make a variation of the gumbo z’herbes, but I’ve used a simple beef stock. You have three choices for fat in the roux. The oil gives you the lightest flavor and marrow fat is the most intense. Note that the okra must dry for 10 hours.
1 pound small okra pods, thinly sliced ½ cup flour + 2 tablespoons Pinch kosher salt 1 large egg 2 tablespoons oil, bacon grease or marrow fat 1 celery rib, diced ½ onion, diced ½ green bell pepper, diced 1 andouille sausage, sliced 3 cups beef broth 5 large shrimp, shelled Hot sauce to serve
Instructions: Spread the okra out on baking sheets and dehydrate, using a dehydrator machine or an oven set at 150 degrees for about 10 hours. (Alternatively, do it the old-fashioned way: Leave okra out in the sun for a few days, until brittle.) Grind these into a fine powder.
Place ½ cup of the powder into a small bowl, reserving the rest for another use. Add the ½ cup flour and a pinch of salt. Mix in the egg and form a dough; you might need a little more water. Roll out and cut into very thin noodles, either by hand or another device, such as a crank roller. Toss with flour and set aside.
In a frying pan, melt the fat and add the 2 tablespoons flour. Cook on very low heat until dark brown, constantly stirring. It should be about the same color as your stock. Just be careful not to let it burn. This is your roux. Add the celery, onion and bell pepper and continue stirring until the vegetables begin to color, about 10 minutes.
In the meantime, brown the sausage in a large pot. Add the broth and bring to boil.
When you are ready to eat, put your okra noodles into the broth and stir well. Add the roux and vegetable mixture and bring to a boil. It should thicken up nicely and look very dark. At the last minute, add the shrimp and cook until barely pink. Add a few good shots of hot sauce and serve up. You will find the noodles provide a perfectly delightful slimy texture for those who love that sort of thing, including me.