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Sauce Gombo

A stew of okra, meat or seafood, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices simmered until thickened.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Sauce Gombo

Time30–40 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the okra and trim off the tops and tails.

  2. Cut the okra into small rounds or slice them lengthwise, then set the okra aside.

  3. Wash the meat.

  4. Season the meat with salt, pepper, and spices.

  5. Clean the seafood and season it with salt and pepper.

  6. Marinate the meat or seafood for at least 30 minutes.

Make the stew

  1. Heat the palm oil or vegetable oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.

  2. Add the chopped onions and minced garlic, and sauté until translucent and fragrant.

  3. Add the seasoned meat or seafood to the pot and cook until it browns on all sides, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

  4. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, scotch bonnet pepper, ground crayfish, nutmeg, ginger, and paprika, then stir well to combine all the ingredients.

  5. Allow the mixture to cook for a few minutes until the tomatoes start to soften and release their juices.

  6. Add the chopped okra to the pot and stir to coat the okra with the tomato mixture.

  7. If desired, add a little water or broth to prevent the stew from becoming too thick.

Simmer and serve

  1. Cover the pot and let the stew simmer on low heat for about 30–40 minutes, or until the okra is tender and cooked through, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

  2. Taste the stew and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper according to your preference.

  3. Remove the stew from the heat.

  4. Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro or parsley.

  5. Serve hot with cooked rice or fufu.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

979Calories
106 gProtein
47 gFat
30 gCarbs

Counts 17 of 21 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 17 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Salmon100g cooked208
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Shrimp100g cooked99
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Okra1 cup (100g)33
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Meatnot in our table0
Scotchnot in our table0
Crayfishnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Okra + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together212 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Okra + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together327 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Okra + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together715 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Okra
Releases mucilage that thickens the stew and gives it a silky body.
Meat or seafood
Provides savory protein flavor, and browning in the pot builds depth in the stew.
Tomatoes
Add acidity, moisture and sweetness that form the base of the sauce.
Tomato paste
Concentrates tomato flavor and adds color and savory depth through cooking.
Onions
Soften and sweeten as they cook, forming a flavorful aromatic base.
Palm oil or vegetable oil
Carries flavor and helps brown the meat and aromatics in the pot.

The step that matters

Simmering the okra. Okra releases mucilage as it cooks, which thickens the stew. Cooking it gently on low heat until tender keeps it silky, while stirring prevents sticking and scorching on the bottom of the pot.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (okra, meat, onion, tomato, garlic, pepper, crayfish):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against okra, meat, onion, tomato, garlic, pepper, crayfish. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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