Weekly Recipe: West African Gumbo With Fou Fou From Chef Mawa McQueen

In the snowy mountain city of Aspen, a James Beard Award-nominated chef is cooking Afro-Mediterranean cosine with French techniques and hyper-seasonal American ingredients—and she’s about to bring a bit of that deliciousness to your table.

Chef Mawa McQueen is the owner of Aspen’s Mawa’s Kitchen, The Crepe Shack, GrainFreeNola and the newly opened Mawita’s. She recently self-published the cookbook Mawa’s Way, which compiles her most popular recipes from Mawa’s Kitchen and tells her inspiring story.

See also: Chef Alexander Smalls' Alkebulan Food Market Highlights Africa's Influence on Global Cuisine

Chef McQueen grew up in Africa’s Ivory Coast, lived in Paris and the French Alps, and learned to cook in the styles of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria along the way. Today, she melts those flavors and traditions into an exciting personal style, and her recipe for West African gumbo with fou fou is the perfect way to jump into her technique.

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Chef McQueen is sharing her recipe for West African gumbo with fou fou with our readers below. Grab a large pot or a Dutch oven and roll up your sleeves. This is a bold and fantastic bowl that will wow your friends and family, and might make you wanna catch a quick flight to Aspen.

West African Gumbo with Fou Fou

Ingredients:

• 12 oz andouille sausage
• 1 lb chicken thighs
• 2 cups shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 1 cup crawfish meat
• ¼ shrimp powder
• ¼ dry fish powder 


• 1 bunch celery (diced leaves and all)
• 1 green bell pepper (diced)
• 1 large yellow onion (diced)
• 1 ½ teaspoon garlic (minced)
• 1 bunch green onion (finely chopped)
• 1 bunch fresh parsley leaves (finely chopped)
• 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (up to 2 tablespoons)
• 5 cups fresh okra cut or frozen 


• 8 cups chicken broth

Directions:

1. In a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, brown the andouille sausage on each side (about 2 to 3 minutes per side). Remove it from the pot and set aside. 


2. Add salt and pepper to the chicken pieces, then add it to the same pot and fry them in the fat remaining from the sausage until cooked through. Once the chicken is done, set it aside and add the shrimp to the pot. Sear each side and remove it once the shrimp is pink and cooked


3. Add your veggies (celery, bell pepper, onion, garlic, green onions, and parsley) to the same pot and saute until they just begin to soften, almost brown, then add the Cajun seasoning and stir. Add the chicken broth 

4. Next, add your veggies and okra, Add the chicken, fish powder and shrimp powder to broth, stir or whisk again, and bring your gumbo to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and let your gumbo simmer for 45 minutes until it tightens. 


5. After 45 minutes of simmering, return the sausage, chicken and shrimp to the pot, stir and cook for 15 to 30 minutes more if necessary.
6. Serve over warm rice or fufu.

Visit Mawa McQueen’s restaurants in Aspen and get her cookbook Mawa’s Way for more delicious dishes and inspiration.