Vegan Gumbo
I've been to New Orleans, Louisiana and I've had real gumbo. Many times. The hardest thing about making "real" seafood gumbo vegan is that there aren't currently any decent meatless analogues for shellfish, such as shrimp, crawfish or scallops. I know of some meatless substitutes for shrimp that can be found in markets that specialize in Chinese cuisine, but these are merely cosmetic substitutions — they have absolutely no flavor to them. I've tried adding them to this recipe but it didn't impart anything to the flavor, so it didn't seem worthwhile. One time I tried adding white hominy corn to the recipe to represent the missing shellfish, and that was interesting but not really worth repeating. Fake crab is a thing, but it's pretty nasty. Various vegan substitutes for fish are widely available, but to my knowledge these are all breaded cutlets that are meant to stand in for dishes like fish and chips, and are not readily suitable for stews or or other types of preparation. Alas, there really is no such thing as vegan seafood gumbo. At least, not yet.
However, just like there are many different ways to make spaghetti (or at least a lot of pasta-with-red-sauce recipes that could be called that name, lacking any better term), there are many ways to make gumbo. The most essential ingredients are the roux and the okra. I don't care who you ask, if it ain't got those two things, it ain't gumbo. Anyway, the following recipe is one I adapted from several different others I've used prior to eschewing animal products from my diet many decades ago.
I prefer to shortcut on the roux using an easily sourced brand (in the US anyway) of roux mix, but if you want to make your own from scratch, have fun. Where I come from, roux is made with beer. Any old domestic pilsner will do, no need to go wasting good microbrew in a recipe. When made from scratch, the term "One Beer Roux" has a dual meaning: You add one to the roux, and the amount of time it take to make it is roughly equivalent to the time it takes the average person to drink one beer. So a bit of Julia Child, if you will: one for the dish, one for the cook.
Beer-based Roux
1 cup Tony Chachere's instant roux mix
1 12 oz. beer
4 oz. water, or more to thin roux as needed
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
¼ tsp. liquid smoke (a few drops is generally sufficient)
Ingredients
½ cup vegetable oil (evoo or something neutral like safflower is best)
2 cups celery, chopped (4-6 stalks)
2 cups large red onion, diced
2 cups bell pepper, cut into strips
2 lb. cut okra, fresh or frozen
5 cloves garlic, diced
28 oz. crushed tomatoes (one large or two small cans)
2 medium fresh tomatoes, cubed
3-4 medium potatoes, diced (Russet, Yukon, new, red — whichever you have on hand is fine)
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 lb. black-eyed peas, cooked (approximately 1 cup when dry)
½ loaf Field Roast®, diced (8 oz.) or seitan sausage, crumbled
1 cup Soy curls, dry - reconstitute using...
2 cups vegetable stock (imitation chicken flavor if possible)
1 tbsp. Louisiana Hot Sauce, or to taste
4 whole bay leaves, or 1 tsp. ground bay leaf
1 tsp. gumbo filé
1 tsp. Rendezvous dry rub (or generic "cajun" seasoning)
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
Method
- Make a roux in a small sauce pan as per instructions on the roux mix container, or in the absence of roux mix, gradually whisk 1 cup of flour into 1 cup of boiling olive oil and cook until dark brown, or use your favorite roux recipe. Set aside. It will thicken as it cools and you can use the beer to thin it as needed.
- Microwave cubed potatoes on high for 5-6 minutes to pre-cook. Set aside.
- Heat oil in cast iron Dutch oven (6 qt. minimum, 8 qt. is better). Add okra, coating thoroughly with oil. Cover and cook slowly on medium heat until okra is tender. Remove okra with slotted spoon and set aside, leaving remaining oil.
- Add celery, onion and bell pepper to oil and sauté until soft. (You may need to add a bit more oil depending upon how much was transferred to the okra.) Add garlic and simmer three minutes more. Add roux and tomatoes, mixing until well blended. Add okra reserved from previous step.
- Add soy curls with remaining stock, potatoes, peas, parsley, fake meat and spices. Mix gently until all ingredients are evenly distributed in the pot. Bring to a slow boil and reduce heat, simmering for one hour and stirring periodically. Add water or beer to thin as necessary, and salt to taste.
Serve over steamed long grain rice, with fresh garlic bread. You will need to make two dry cups of rice minimum, but three is better if your rice cooker is big enough. Depending upon how much rice you make and what ratio of rice to gumbo you opt for when dishing it up, this recipe will typically make between eight and twelve servings.