This recipe is one of our favorites from Toni Tipton-Martin’s Jubilee, our November 2019 Cookbook Club pick. The author describes her approach to this deeply flavorful stew as a diasporic gumbo influenced by recipes from West Africa, island, Lowcountry, and Louisiana. The result is a rich, warming broth punctuated by succulent shrimp, juicy hunks of beef, and crisp-tender okra you’ll want to cozy up with all winter long. Tipton-Martin recommends sautéing the okra over high heat to that the pods ooze less.
Reprinted with permission from Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin, copyright © 2019. Photographs by Jerrelle Guy. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc.
Ingredients
6 servings
1
2
½
½
2
1
2
2
1
1
⅔
⅓
1½
3
1½
½
½
1
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 375°. Combine paprika, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Season short ribs with 1½ tsp. spice mixture. Place in a shallow baking pan and roast until browned and fat has rendered, about 45 minutes.
Step 2
Transfer bones to a large Dutch oven or heavy pot. Discard fat. Add stew meat, bay leaves, and 2 qt. water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 2 hours (the broth develops stronger flavor the longer you let it simmer). Using tongs, remove bones. When cool enough to handle, trim any meat from bones and return meat to pot. Discard fat and bones.
Step 3
Heat bacon fat in a large skillet over medium-high. Add okra and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 7–10 minutes. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until well softened, 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, chile pepper, thyme, and remaining spice mixture and cook 5 minutes more.
Step 4
Add okra mixture to Dutch oven and simmer, adding crab and/or shrimp during the last 5 minutes of cooking time (if using), until okra is tender and flavors have melded, 20–30 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Taste to adjust seasonings. Serve with rice alongside.
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Reviews (28)
Back to TopI don't know WHAT kind of 'Gumbo' this is supposed to be but it is NOT the gumbo my Mom and Gran and I make. They were born in Louisiana and THIS AIN'T GUMBO! It might taste good as a stew but please don't call it Gumbo.
Anonymous
Chicago, IL
5/27/2022
"Chili" in New Jersey with tomatoes and beans is a nice stew-like beef dish, but it is NOT even close to Chili. In the same sense, "Gumbo" with beef (?) and no roux base is perhaps a nice stew-like beef soup, but it is NOT Gumbo. I'm all for being creative and adding to the tapestry and diversity of traditional preparations, but please do not mistake this for Gumbo.
Daryl
Louisiana
5/16/2021
Make no mistake this dish is delicious, but it is Gumbo in the same sense that Cincinnati Chili is Chili. Having said that it’s a keeper. Not sure I’d call it Gumbo if I fed it to my Louisiana relatives though.
John D.
Mobile, Al.
3/31/2021
You make a big deal out of frying the fresh okra in bacon fat “ so that the pods ooze less”. Isn’t the “ooze” the basic thickening agent (along with Gumbo Fillet) used in ALL gumbo recipes - not to mention the roux as it has been beaten to death by others? Why would you want to limit the okra’s natural white discharge?
Jim Haas
Los Angeles, Ca
2/21/2021
I enjoy your cooking videos and the recipes turn out well. However, the professionalism of your well-done videos could be greatly enhanced by eliminating the regular use of crude, potty-mouthed language and comments by the cooks. I am not a prude and I do use the same language at the appropriate times but it's totally unneeded, detracts from and is inappropriate during your otherwise excellent and educational cooking videos while diminishing the great name and reputation of bon appetit.
davidr330637
92673
10/9/2020
Some people on this thread need to consider something: Gumbo is not just a Louisiana dish. It is a dish of the West Africa and the African diaspora. Gumbos from different places include different ingredients. Some include beef and many do not include a roux. I think that the unifying thing is that Okra is added to a protien laden stew. Where my family comes from, Gumbo is made with beef, salted cod, shrimp, crab and of course, okra. And, the base liquid in the stew is water made black by soaking a black mushroom. And, yes, it is Gumbo.
ludovic
New York
9/5/2020
Gumbo simply has to have okra in it to qualify as gumbo. There's are kinds of gumbo, some with tomatoes, some without. This is gumbo like this Louisiana native girl has never had before, and I've eaten plenty of seafood gumbo. My mother never used tomatoes and never beef, always always always a rich roux, but still this is a great gumbo. And simply delicious! I'm vegetarian, so omitted any animal parts, kept the shrimp part, tossed in some bay scallops at the end and man O man - a make again for sure!
Anonymous
Louisiana
4/12/2020
Absolutely delicious. Used frozen okra without an issue. I don't know anything about whether it is gumbo or not, but I do know I can't wait to eat it again.
Anonymous
Los Angeles
3/30/2020
Does it taste good to you all ? Isn't that all that matters ? Eat and enjoy. If you don't want to cook it again because you determine it is or is not gumbo , then don't. All recipes around the world were built on someone else's creation from the beginning of time. Stop getting your panties in a twist because someone called it gumbo and someone called it stew.
Anonymous
3/25/2020
Spent 25 years in NOLA, half that time married to a Creole with a family of amazing cooks. Never saw beef in any gumbo. Creole or Cajun!
Woodbury, CT
1/16/2020
Yes, the reviews are correct. It’s delicious and it’s not gumbo. For the hand wingers who can’t find fresh okra, use a bag of frozen and skip the sautéing step, and add it with the shellfish. Do not consider the shellfish optional.
Anonymous
Seattle
1/2/2020
“Deeply flavored” it IS!!! I made this Sunday and have been eating and craving it since. The flavors are deep from layering the roasted ribs, long-simmering bones in the broth, and the use of bacon fat. I left out the shellfish. I didn’t think it needed it because the meat flavors are so rich. And the okra! Oh how I love the okra in this recipe - as recommended, sauté on high heat to limit the oozing. Two alterations: I used crushed tomatoes and habanero pepper instead of the Scotch Bonnet as the store I went to didn’t have the SB peppers.amazingly delicious!!!
Chicago
11/13/2019
Lots of people complaining about the contents of the stew clearly didn't read the description, which says it was influenced by many places and OBVIOUSLY ISN'T GOING TO REFLECT YOUR LOCAL FARE. Yeesh. I get it, food is culture and all, but America is a melting pot and you should all really get used to ... putting a bunch of ish in a pot and shutting up and eating it, I don't know. Maybe punch down less on people who want to eat a stew? Can't we do this on Twitter instead? If your identity is a very specific niche recipe, then bud, take a vacation somewhere else and eat a food. Any food. And it probably won't be gumbo, and you will live through the experience. Anyway, if we can't find fresh Okra, I imagine using frozen wouldn't suffice, since it should be sauteed according to the recipe. Though, the thickening from frozen okra would probably replace the roux people seem to desperately want. So maybe it could be a win-win.
Anonymous
NOT LOUISIANA, OBVIOUSLY.
11/12/2019
Just saying... okra is now out of season. I don’t get this. Why didn’t you post this earlier?
NYC
11/11/2019
And the roux is where? Coming from a person raised in Louisiana. Will always Bon Appetite thoux.
Anonymous
Louisiana but living in Texas
11/10/2019