Thai-Style Seafood Casserole With Basil

Thailand is truly a place for seafood lovers. There is water everywhere in Bangkok--even in the dry season. And everywhere there is water, the Thais use it to grow something to eat! Add to that the fact that the Gulf of Thailand is not far away from the city and it all adds up to good eatin' for seafood lover's! The following recipe is typical of the bewildering variety of cioppino and jambalaya type seafood stews found there--and each one seems better than the last. The recipe is from Joyce Jue's delightful San Francisco Chronicle column (3/13/91). It calls for the dish to be cooked in a Chinese "sandy" pot. Don't gots one? Not to worry--use whatever you have on hand--wok, Dutch oven, stockpot...

(And yes, Marge--there are tentacles in this!) Put the mung beans into a bowl and cover with warm water; soak until soft and pliable, about 10 minutes. Drain. Set aside. If you are using a cooked crab, have the fishmonger crack it into large pieces.

To clean a live crab, be careful, and use a brush to scrub its underside and between the claws and legs to loosen the sand and grit. Rinse thoroughly with cold water. Plunge the crab into boiling water for a minute to kill it. Remove. When cool, clean, disjoint and chop the crab into large chunks.

In a mortar or spice mill, pound or grind the peppercorns first, then add the coriander root and garlic, and work it into a paste. Mix together the sugar, Golden Mountain, soy and oyster sauces, rice wine and sesame oil in a bowl.

Pour the vegetable oil into a 3 1/2-quart sandy clay pot casserole (or a Dutch oven) and set over medium heat. Add the coriander-garlic- pepper paste and sauté lightly.

Increase the heat to high. Add ginger, chiles and raw crab pieces; toss and brown for a minute. Add the shrimp an green onions to crab mixture; stir-fry for 30 seconds. Pour in the soy sauce mixture and mung bean noodles; toss and mix together. Stir in the water, cover pot, reduce heat to medium and braise for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the noodles seem dry, add more water.

Increase heat to medium-high, and gently stir in the fish and squid (and cooked crab if using), mix with the noodles, top with the basil leaves. Cover and cook for 3 to 5 minutes longer. Check for doneness. Garnish with fresh coriander sprigs. Bring the clay pot to the table and serve hot with rice and vegetab