Everyone knows pad thai. Even people who don’t eat Thai food probably know pad thai. But most people don’t know that pad thai has a few “cousins.” These are dishes that are not technically pad thai, but share many ingredients and have kind of a similar flavour vibe. “Pad thai adjacent” if you will.
Meet sen chan pad pu, or what I like to call the “easier pad thai.” She’s got the same sweet-salty-sour flavour profile, but with fewer ingredients it’s much easier to pull off on a weeknight. Oh and she is heavier on the chilies, hence the iconic orange colour!
Sen chan means “noodles from Chanthaburi,” which is a province famous for making the best rice noodles for stir fries. Pad pu means “stir fried with crab” which is the common protein used, but shrimp is great too. (You can make this dish using noodles not made in Chanthaburi of course, but bonus points if you can find them!)
I have shared another cousin of pad thai in the past: pad mee korat, the signature dish of Korat, the hometown of my mom. Due to its lack of fish sauce and eggs, I shared it as a vegan pad thai recipe, though in Thailand you’d typically see it with pork added.