Shrimp Étouffée

By keenan

Ingredients

• Shells from 2 pounds of shrimp
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• top and bottom from 1 green pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 5 bay leaves
• 2 pounds shrimp, shell on (remove shells for use in the shrimp stock, if not making your own stock, you can get shrimp already shelled)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or lard
• Heaping 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1-2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 pint shrimp stock (see above), or clam juice or pre-made fish or shellfish stock
• 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 Tbsp sweet paprika
• Salt
• 3 green onions, chopped
• Hot sauce (Crystal or Tabasco) to taste

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 90mins
Cooking time 120mins
Adapted from simplyrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Even though I grew up in New Jersey, and my mother is from New England, I still think Louisiana has the best food in America. Every time I cook Cajun or Creole I'm in awe of the balance and strength in the cooking there; it's one of the few places in the United States with a long-standing cuisine all its own. This dish, étouffée, is one of that cuisine's crown jewels.

Étouffée basically means "smothered," and it is a common cooking technique in the South; a fricassee is the same deal. You make a flavorful sauce and cook a meat or fish in it, not so long as a braise or stew, and not so short as a sauté.

You'll note the long prep time in this recipe—that is mostly for peeling the shrimp shells for the stock and then for simmering that stock. If you use canned or pre-made stock, your prep time will go down to about 20 minutes.

Pour 2 quarts of water into a pot and add all the remaining stock ingredients. Bring to a boil, drop the heat down and simmer the stock gently for 45 minutes. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve into another pot set over low heat. You will have extra stock, which you can use for soup, risotto, etc. It will last in the fridge for a week.

To make the étouffée, start by making a roux. Heat the vegetable oil or lard in a heavy pot over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the flour well, making sure there no clumps. Let this cook, stirring often, until it turns a pretty brown; this should take about 10 minutes or so.

Add the celery, green pepper, jalapeno and onion, mix well and cook this over medium heat for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes.

Slowly add the hot shrimp stock, stirring constantly so it incorporates. The roux will absorb the stock and seize up at first, then it will loosen. Add enough stock to make a sauce about the thickness of syrup, about 1 pint. Add the Creole seasoning, celery seed and paprika and mix well. Add salt to taste, then mix in the shrimp. Cover the pot, turn the heat to its lowest setting and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the green onions and hot sauce to taste. Serve over white rice with a cold beer or lemonade.

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I'm going to save this recipe for the next time we want to make Etouffee! The last one we tried was only so-so.

Kitten with a Whisk

The etouffee is indeed made with the shells off - you use the shells to make the stock. ~Hank

This looks wonderful. I do have a question. How much stock do you end up with total and how much do you use for the recipe? I know you said about a pint for the recipe but I just want to make sure the pint (give or take a bit) is for the etouffee only. Thanks!

Everyone's mix is different, but you will need something like this: 1 Tbsp salt, 2, teaspoons sweet paprika, 2 teaspoons black pepper, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon celery seed, 1/4 teaspoon allspice. Hope that helps! ~Hank

Just my 2 cents... Although it seems obvious to me that you should shell the shrimp from the étouffée ingredients to add to the ingredients for the stock... I would probably make that a little more explicit in the directions, especially since that part is listed as optional.

Wow....just made an etouffee Monday, go to your web-site and find your recipe. Looks really good. I make mine with andouille sausage along with the shrimp. This time I also braised some whole chicken thighs with the etouffee, removed the skin and bones, shredded the meat and added back in with the shrimp just before serving. Keep up the good work and great recipes coming.

I love shrimp etouffe, but prefer crawfish etouffee. In Lafayette, LA, the heart of cajun country, shrimp and crawfish etouffee are USUALLY, not always, made with butter or margarine and the roux is only cooked to "blond" not brown. This way, it retains its' thickening properties that some people have mentioned above. And, what's better with shrimp, or crawfish, than butter? If you do visit Acadiana and order an etouffee, this is usually how it is prepared and these are some of the things that separates it from a gumbo, is its' stew qualities. Also, I don't think I've ever seen a chef in Acadiana (or any of my local cookbooks) call for celery seed in the etouffee. Maybe in the potato salad on the side, but, they tend to run in the eggy/relish/add pickle juice to the potato salad. The slight acidity in the potato salad is a nice complement to the richness of the etouffee. Enjoy!

Thanks for the tips! My roux thickened quite well, actually, as it was only cooked to barely brown, not the rich, nut-brown of a gumbo roux. And as for the celery seed? You got me - that's my own addition. ;-) ~Hank

Looks fabulous. Thanks. Just a suggestion, whenever I make stock, I double the recipe and freeze my leftovers in ice cube trays. It works great and I toss a few cubes into this or that for extra flavor. It even allows my daughter to have instant "au just" (to her at least) for her meat and/or veggies.

I must say that I agree with Avis here. Being from 70 miles south of New Orleans, etouffe is a staple in our house, particularly during crawfish season. By and large, it sounds like a really good recipe, but as Avis pointed out, it should be thicker. The way that my husband does it is that he sweats his aromatic veggies in real butter, sprinkles flour over them, and then adds whatever liquid he is using until the desired consistency is reached. I check this site most every day. It is really enjoyable to read articles and recipes from people as passionate about food as you and your contributors.

I live In Shreveport, LA. I think one seafood is the way to go!(although I cheat sometimes and use shrimp and crawfish). I usually add tomatoes to mine and cajun peppers as well make sure the onion is fresh. (I usually skip the roux).

First of all, I don't know how you've never heard of chicken etoufee, but it's one of my favs, and the only way I get etoufee at home as my hubby is allergic to shrimp. :-) Just finely shred some cooked chicken and replace the shrimp with it. Second, you can get a LOT more flavor from your roux if you do 1/2 oil and 1/2 butter. The oil lowers the butter's scorch temp, allowing you to cook the roux longer and get a true brick roux, and you get the richness of the butter flavor. Always keep your ratio of fat to flour about 1:1 in a roux and you'll be all good. I'm also surprised there's not any bay leaf in this recipe, because it's traditional in etoufee, but, as you said, there's a million different ways to prepare it.

I lived in Louisiana for 30 years - 20 in Cajun country and 10 in the northern part. I too make my roux for etoufee with butter. Although I prefer Louisiana crawish (will NOT use the Chinese imports) etouffee, shrimp, chicken are all acceptable - Etoufee is not just a seafood dish - it is a method. Sorry, Hank but I have to agree - Etoufee is thicker than the picture shows - at least in Louisiana it is! Love your site and enjoy reading your recipes.

Very tasty with the right amount of heat, I used Tony C's seasoning. Gravy was just about right in taste and thickness using a scant pint of stock. Will do this again and this time for company.

I made this last night and it was perfect! I loved the addition of the jalapeños and sweet paprika in particular.

I've never seen an etouffee with tomato either, but hey.. to each their own. (Another Texan with Cajun roots here) I make jambalaya differently than many others do & its all ok by me. :D

I've been soooo in the mood for a taste of New Orleans - I will take this as a sign that I need to just make some damn etouffee!

I love etouffee although here in Louisiana it is almost always eaten with crawfish, and the is NEVER tomato in it. At least that is how everyone's mama makes it. If you add tomato in it then it is Shrimp Creole, or whatever type of seafood you use. And I always use a roux. I think I might make some for lent this Friday. Yum!

Looks like a great recipe and I'm adding it to my 'to make' list. A question - it seems like 10 minutes would overcook the shrimp. Comment?

It doesn't, because the etouffee is just gently simmering, not boiling. If you plan to serve this over an extended period of time, as opposed to all at once, you can turn off the burner and let the carryover heat finish the shrimp. ~Hank

I've had 4 wisdom teeth recently removed AND it looks like I've cracked a tooth last night. Which means no solid food for me for who knows how long - once I'm capable of truly eating again, this is the first thing I'm going to make. I can't wait, I wanted to lick the picture it looks so good.

As far as the butter roux for etouffee, that is how I learned to make it from several chef's who won the world champion etouffee cook-off (many, many years ago). The orange/red color in the crawfish etouffee does not come from tomato, but from the orange fat that coats the crawfish tails. You have to make sure that you squeeze as much of that out of the bag (if using frozen tails) to get the most flavor. No counting calories.

I have had and made gumbo with only one meat/seafood but, I usually make mine with several. Most gumbos are thickened with either roux or okra but, I use both. Also, file powder really should only be sprinkle over the bowl when you serve it or use it all at that time. When file is reheated, it tends to make the gumbo gummy.

Recipe looks and sounds wonderful! The comments are "priceless". I have never made a Etouffee let alone know how to pronounce. But I do know a good recipe when I see it or read it! (I am always pleased with your contributions.) NOW, I know how to pronounce it, make it, and with various techniques. See what you started! THANKS!

I made this last night, with a few changes -- I used butter in the roux (was out of bacon fat) and I'm allergic to onions, so that was out. It still tasted great! I used a Trader Joe's seafood stock, adding celery, bay leaves and shrimp shells to simmer. I only had basmati rice on hand, so after having a dish of the etouffee as is, I then experimented with adding some unsweetened shredded coconut, saffron and some peas to it. It became a whole new thing with the basmati rice, a cross between a Carribean dish and Indian curry. We liked both versions so much, I'll be making this again. Thanks!

Most saturday nights my husband and I like to make something "special" for dinner. This recipe fit perfectly. A definite keeper. Thank you.

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