Southern · Lowcountry · main

Shrimp and Okra Purloo

Name: Shrimp and Okra Purloo
Prep time: 1 h 17 min
Total time: 1 h 27 min
Cuisine: Southern · Lowcountry
Ingredients: long grain white rice — 400 g; shrimp — 700 g; shrimp stock — 900 g; fresh nutmeg — 450 g; smoked pork jowl — 115 g; peanut oil — 27 g; yellow onion — 280 g; celery — 150 g; tomatoes — 300 g; bay leaf — 2 g; thyme — 2 g; salt — 10 g; black pepper — 5 g; cayenne pepper — 3 g; spring onions — 60 g

Shrimp and Okra Purloo reads umami 6.5, salinity 4.6 and marine & briny 4.4 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Southern · Lowcountry main, about 1 hr 27 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 7.4 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 3.0 / 10
Sour & Bright — 1.9 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.4 / 10
Rich & Fat — 4.5 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.4 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.5 · Salinity 4.6 · Marine & Briny 4.4 · Allium 3.7 · Richness 3.4 · Nutty 3.4 · Heat 2.8 · Warm Spice 2.7 · Sweetness 2.4 · Herbaceous 2.2 · Sourness 1.8 · Fruity 1.8 · Floral 1.4 · Earthy 1.2 · Bitterness 0.9

What's in it (15)

long grain white rice — 400 g
shrimp — 700 g
shrimp stock — 900 g
fresh nutmeg — 450 g
smoked pork jowl — 115 g
peanut oil — 27 g
yellow onion — 280 g
celery — 150 g
tomatoes — 300 g
bay leaf — 2 g
thyme — 2 g
salt — 10 g
black pepper — 5 g
cayenne pepper — 3 g
spring onions — 60 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 27 min (1 hr 17 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 162.4 kcal, 11.5 g protein, 5.2 g fat, 18 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

Purloo — also spelled perloo, perlow and pilau depending on which county you are in — is the Lowcountry pilaf, and the rule that governs it is that the rice absorbs exactly its liquid and is never stirred again after it goes in. It is a Gullah Geechee dish and the technique is West African and Senegambian in origin, not French.
Simmer the reserved shrimp shells in 1.2 litres of water for 25 minutes, pressing them against the side of the pan, then strain and measure out 900 ml.
Render the pork jowl in a heavy lidded pot over medium, 8 minutes, until the fat has run and the pieces are browning. Lift the pieces out and set them aside.
Add the peanut oil and the okra to the fat and cook over medium-high, stirring only occasionally so it takes colour, 10 minutes. You are cooking the slick out of the okra. It will go from slimy to browned and dry-looking, and once it does it will thicken the pot without ever turning it ropy — this is the whole trick with okra and it cannot be hurried.
Add the onion and celery and cook 6 minutes until soft. Add the tomatoes, bay, thyme, salt, black pepper and cayenne and simmer 10 minutes until the tomatoes break down.
Rinse the rice, drain, and stir it in along with the shrimp stock. Bring to a hard boil, then cover tightly, drop the heat as low as it goes, and steam 18 minutes without lifting the lid.
Take it off the heat, scatter the raw shrimp and the reserved pork over the surface, put the lid straight back on and let it stand 10 minutes. The residual steam cooks the shrimp perfectly and nothing overcooks. Fork it up gently, taste for salt and scatter the spring onions.
Substitutions: slab bacon can stand in for the smoked pork jowl.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Crab and Callaloo (Dasheen Leaf Soup with Blue Crab) — Trinidadian
Rice-Pot Jambalaya — Cajun/Creole
Amiwo (Spiced Cornmeal with Fried Chicken) — Beninese
Gambas al Ajillo — Spanish
Caruru de Camarão Seco — Brazilian

Keep reading: what umami, salinity, marine & briny mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.