Friday Dinner: Tuna gumbo

Tonight, I made gumbo using canned tuna and fish stock that I made the other day from fish bones. I get whole fish from the market every weekend, so I decided to make fish stock one weekend and kept in the freezer.

Gumbo is thick tasty soup from the Southern part of the U.S. Its base, mirepox, consists typically of onion, celery, and carrot and/or pepper. To thicken the soup, both okra and roux are used. I was going to put okra in my soup, thinking that I had frozen okra in my freezer, but it turned out that I had used it all, so this soup is missing okra. As thickening agent though, roux is a lot more powerful and also gives rich flavor, so that's what I usually use.

Tuna gumbo (for 4 people):
Tuna, solid albacore in water (1 6oz can) - I think I could have put in two, but I only had one can at home... I read on a magazine that that omega 3 (fish oil) that's really good for you start to melt away if the fish is in oil rather than water. That's why I always get tuna in water, and also tuna in oil is too greasy.
Onion (1 medium)
Carrot (1)
Celery (2 stalks)
Red pepper (2 small or 1 large)
Asparagus (6) - I had it in the fridge so used it
Canned tomato, whole or diced (1 cup)
Vegetable oil (1/2 Tbsp and 2 Tbsp)
Flour (2 Tbsp)
Fish stock (3 cups) - If you don't want to make your own fish stock and can't find one at a store, I think you can use chicken stock.
Salt
Pepper
Chili pepper (1/2 tsp)
Dried oregano (a pinch) - optional
Fresh parsley (about 2 Tbsp chopped) - optional

1. Dice onion roughly. Chop up carrot, celery, red pepper, and asparagus into bite size pieces.
2. Heat a dutch oven with 1/2 Tbsp of vegetable oil on medium high heat. Saute onions until they're transparent. Add all the other vegetables except for asparagus.
3. Keep sauteeing for about 2 minutes. Then take the vegetables out and set them aside.
4. Turn the heat down to low to low medium. Add 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil and flour in the dutch oven. Saute the mixture, stirring, for at least 5 minutes. This is the roux, your thickening agent. After about 5 minutes, it will be nice and brown. If you have time, you can keep sauteeing for like 10 minutes.
5. Put the vegetable mixture back into the pot. Stir well and add fish stock. Turn the heat up to medium high. Stir well.
6. Once the soup boils, put canned tomatoes (if whole, mush them as you put them in), tuna, and asparagus. Put about 2 tsp of salt, pepper, and 1/2 tsp of chili pepper. Stir well. Turn the heat down to medium and put the lid on. Cook until all the vegetables are tender.
7. At the end, add oregano and fresh parsley.
8. Serve over rice!

I used tuna and fish stock for this recipe, but if you're not a big seafood person, you can use chicken breast and chicken stock. If you are a big seafood person, you can go crazy and add fresh pieces of fish, clams, shrimp, etc. If you want your gumbo to be thicker, don't put the lid on when you cook the soup and stir every few minutes.

I'll put a recipe for fish stock just in case...

Fish stock (makes about 1/2 gallon):
Fish bones and trimmings - I used bones and head from one fish.
Onion (1 small or half of medium)
Turnip (1 small)
Celery (1 large stalk or 2 small stalks)
Bouquet garni (1) - 1 small spring of thyme, 1 small bay leaf, 2 parsley stems, and 1 leek leave tied together with a string

1. Wash bones and trimmings really well. Pat dry. Cut all the vegetables into small pieces (turnip has to be peeled too).
2. Put them in a large pot with water (cool) covering them by about two inches.
3. Bring them slowly to a simmer. Skim the liquid consistently. After about 10 minutes, put all the vegetables in. After about 20 minutes, add the bouquet garni. Cook for 10 minutes more.

I froze this stock into about 2 batches.

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