Dombrés are the small hand-rolled flour dumplings of the French Antilles, dropped into a Creole sauce to simmer with shrimp, salt cod or pork. Chewy and humble, they soak up the spiced, tomatoey broth around them.
Spoon up dombrés aux crevettes and the chewy little dumplings have soaked up the spiced tomato sauce, plump shrimp scattered through. Bite: the dombrés are dense and satisfyingly chewy (like a savory gnocchi), the sauce tomato-rich and Creole-spiced, the shrimp sweet and tender, lime brightening it. A hearty, homely Guadeloupean one-pot.
A stiff flour-and-water dough rolled into small dumplings simmers in the sauce, releasing a little starch to thicken it while staying chewy. The shrimp are added late to stay tender; the Creole tomato sauce and lime carry the island flavor.
Variations
With salt cod or pork. With red beans (dombrés aux haricots rouges). Spicier. With conch. With coconut milk. Soupier.
On the Palate
Where Dombrés aux Crevettes sits in the Guadeloupean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 40 min active + 35 min waiting
- 122 min
Make a stiff dough from 300 g flour, water, and salt; rest 20 min.
Watch outMake the dough stiff, not soft — a wet dough dissolves into the sauce, while a firm one holds its chew as it simmers.
- 210 min
Roll small pieces into little oval dumplings (dombrés) between your palms.
- 34 min
Season 400 g shrimp with lime, garlic, and a little scotch bonnet.
- 46 min
Fry 1 chopped onion, garlic, and spring onion in oil; add 3 chopped tomatoes and thyme.
- 53 min
Add water to make a sauce and bring to a simmer.
- 616 min
Drop the dombrés into the sauce and simmer 15 min until they float and cook through.
Watch outThe dombrés are done when they bob up to the surface — floating means they've cooked through, not just softened on the outside.
- 76 min
Add the shrimp and simmer 5 min more until pink.
Watch outPull the shrimp off the heat the moment they turn pink and curl — a minute too long and they go rubbery.
- 82 min
Finish with lime and serve.
