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Golden Gate Gumbo
1 3 1/2-lb. stewing chicken 1 lb. sliced ham 1 onion 1 tablespoon shortening 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 1 qt. freshly sliced and cooked okra (2 cans) 2 cans No. 2 1/2-size tomatoes 3 qts. hot water seasoning boiled rice Wash and cut up the dressed chicken, cut ham in small squares, brown both in hot frying pan in the shortening. Place in soup kettle or stewing pan, cover and simmer 10 minutes, then add onion and parsley, both chopped, and brown them. Fry the okra in hot fast separately, seasoning well. To chicken mixture add okra, tomatoes and the water, simmer until tender, about 2 hours. Season while cooking. Serve hot with boiled rice.
A large, forgiving chicken-and-okra gumbo built without roux or filé — the thickening comes entirely from the okra. It makes a great deal of soup, so plan on a stockpot and a crowd.
- YieldThree quarts of water plus chicken, ham, okra and tomatoes gives roughly 5 to 6 quarts of finished gumbo, enough for 10 to 12 servings over rice. Halve everything for a household of four.
- Pan sizeYou need an 8-quart or larger pot. "Soup kettle" here simply means the biggest heavy pot in the kitchen.
- No. 2 1/2 cansA No. 2 1/2 can held about 3 1/2 cups, roughly 28 fluid ounces. Two of them equal two standard 28-oz cans of tomatoes today.
- Stewing chickenA 3 1/2-lb stewing hen was an older laying bird — tough, deeply flavored, and needing the full two hours. A supermarket broiler-fryer of the same weight will be tender in 45 to 60 minutes, so add it later or accept that the meat will shred completely.
- The hamA pound of sliced ham means a firm, salty cured ham, not deli slices. Cut it into half-inch dice and let it brown properly; it is carrying most of the salt in the pot, so season at the end rather than the start.
- Frying the okra separatelyThis is the hinge of the recipe. Browning okra in fat on its own cooks off the mucilage that would otherwise make the gumbo ropy, and it will not happen if the pan is crowded or the heat is low. Work in batches over fairly high heat until the slices are dry-looking and lightly colored.
- Fresh versus canned okraA quart of sliced okra is roughly a pound of fresh pods. If using canned, drain it well and still give it a turn in the fat; frozen cut okra works but should be thawed and patted dry first.
- Simmer, do not boilTwo hours at a bare simmer keeps the chicken from turning stringy and lets the tomatoes lose their raw edge. A rolling boil will break the okra down into thread.
- ServingRice goes into the bowl first, gumbo ladled over — not stirred into the pot, where it would swell and absorb the broth.