Thai-style seafood casserole with basil

3 oz Dried mung bean thread
           -noodles
      1 sm Dungeness crabs [Or a
           -couple of whatever local
           -crabs you have.
           Dungeness crabs are BIG!
           -S.C.]
    1/2 ts Black peppercorns
      1 tb Chopped fresh coriander root
      4    garlic cloves
      1 ts Sugar
      1 tb Golden Mountain Sauce, or
           -dark soy sauce
      1 tb Light soy sauce, or Thai
           -fish sauce (Nam Pla)
      2 ts Oyster sauce
      1 tb Rice wine, or dry sherry
      1 ts Asian sesame oil
      2 tb Vegetable oil
      3 qt Slices of ginger, crushed
      4    Red chilies, chopped into
           -1/2 inch pieces
      6 oz Medium shrimp (36 to 40
           -per count), shelled,
           -deveined, patted dry
      4    Green onions, cut into
           -2-inch lengths
      1    To 1/2 cup water
      1 lb Fresh fish filets, cut into
           -1-inch pieces
    1/2 lb Large squid, cleaned, cut
           -crosswise into 1-inch rings
    1/2 c  Thai sweet basil leaves
           Fresh coriander sprigs
 
  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 saute 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 vegetables.
  
  Serves 4.
  
  Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; March 14 1991.