Thai-Style Seafood Casserole with Basil
Submitted by vizzie
Crab, shrimp, fish, and squid braised in a clay pot with ginger, coriander root, mung bean noodles, and fresh basil in a soy-oyster sauce. A spectacular Thai seafood feast for four.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
45 minREADY
1 hrsThis is the kind of dish that makes the whole table go quiet for a moment when you lift the lid.
Crab, shrimp, white fish, and squid get braised together in a clay pot with a pounded paste of coriander root, garlic, and black peppercorns.
Ginger, red chilies, and a sauce built from soy, oyster sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil layer in savoury depth.
Mung bean noodles soak up every drop of that rich braising liquid, and a crown of fresh basil leaves wilts on top in the final minutes, filling the room with its perfume.
Bring the pot straight to the table and serve with rice. This is a showpiece.
Chef Tips
- Use a clay pot or Dutch oven to hold the heat evenly; the gentle braise keeps delicate seafood from overcooking
- Add the fish and squid last since they cook faster than the crab and shrimp and turn tough if overdone
- Soak the mung bean noodles just until pliable, not fully soft; they finish cooking in the braising liquid and absorb flavour as they go
- If starting with a live crab, plunge it in boiling water for one minute first, then clean and chop; your fishmonger can also crack a cooked crab into pieces for you
Ingredients
Directions
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 3½-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 vegetables.
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