Every year on the 13th of April, Thailand celebrates its Thai New Year, Songkran. The word is Sanskrit meaning 
‘to move into,’ as it refers to the movement of the sun from one astrological phase to another. The celebrations go for days and is a splash of fun, literally, as the Thais celebrate the New Year by dousing one another with buckets of water!
While being a fun-filled celebration of water fights, Songkran also has many traditional aspects to it. The movement of the sun from the Pisces phase to the Aries marks the start of a new solar calendar and new beginnings. Most Thais head to the temples to make food offerings to the Buddhist monks and also to pour water over statues of Buddha to signify washing away of the past year and having a clean start for the New Year.
Most Thais travel from major cities back to their hometowns to be with their families, as paying respect to elders and their ancestors is a must during this time.
Another big thing about celebrations, is the food. Thais enjoy cooking and making traditional dishes that bring the whole family together, and because our customers are a part of our family, we extended these celebrations to the most important person in this P’Nut family, You!
On Saturday and Sunday 13th and 14th, we offered up some Thai favourites such as the Pad Thai, Pad Med Ma Muang (Cashew Nut with Jasmine Rice) and Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles) for only $10! This amazing offer was available at every P’Nut restaurant and also online!
You may be wondering why Chef P’Nut picked these three dishes, and to answer that, lets look at each dish in more details.
Pad Thai: Unequivocally the most Thai dish out there, the name itself has the word Thai in it; so, it’s no Thai New Year without a Pad Thai. But what makes a pad Thai delicious enough to be named Thailand’s national dish? A great pad Thai is the perfect blend of sweet (palm sugar) and sour (tamarind) with salty, umami and hint of chilli. Ours takes over 2.5 hours to prepare with our pad Thai sauce simmering for hours to get the complex balance of flavours of the tamarind, chilli and palm sugar. After we create the rich aromatic sauce we wok toss it against tofu, rice noodles, green shallots and top it up with bean sprouts and crushed peanuts for the crunch! Served up with a wedge of lemon, and enjoyed with a smile, it is a must have dish for any Thai celebrations! Read more about the pad Thai and see if it is the best Thai dish by clicking the link. Or you can get your own inspiration from our chef and create your own version at home by watching our Pad Thai recipe video here.
Pad Med Ma Muang: One of our most popular dishes and a fan favourite, this classic cashew nut stir-fry is 
served up with rice to soak up all the delicious sauce. Our pad med ma muang has our signature smoky chilli jam sauce, made using fresh ingredients including sweet roasted garlic and red shallots. This dish has minimal spice, and unlike the pad Thai, which tries to balance five different types of flavours, our pad med ma muang only tries to balance three, sweet, savoury with a hint of chilli; the spice is well balanced against the crunchy cashew nuts. For those that have tried this dish during the Thai New Year celebrations and loved it, will be happy to know that it is part of our lunch specials menu and can be found at your local P’Nut!
Pad Kee Mao: We picked the third dish for those that love their spice! This 3 chillies-rated dish is also known as Drunken Noodles and is Thailand’s go-to noodle dish after a night of drinking; and what better way to end your Thai New Year celebrations than with some spice! This dish gets its heat from the birds eye chillies which are wok tossed against the Thai basil, fresh veggies and flat rice noodles, giving you delicious flavours with a kick in each bite. This dish can be found on our regular menu by a different name, Chilli Basil Noodles, and instead of flat rice noodles, it is served with Hokkien noodles. If you loved it just the way it was served during Songkran, you can ask our staff to change the noodles for you and you’ll be reminded of your Thai New Year celebrations with every bite!
We do love celebrations here at P’Nut and that is why all of our staff dressed up in beautiful traditional Thai outfits for the weekend, as Songkran is close to their hearts! We pride ourselves on giving you authentic Southeast Asian flavours, and also Southeast Asian hospitality! And we hope you enjoyed celebrating Songkran with us, and as do love our celebrations, we look forward to the next one! If you are craving something traditionally Thai, head into your local P’Nut restaurant or order online now, each bite will have you feeling like you are across the ocean, holidaying.
Pad Med Ma Muang: One of our most popular dishes and a fan favourite, this classic cashew nut stir-fry is served up with rice to soak up all the delicious sauce. Our pad med ma muang has our signature smoky chilli jam sauce, made using fresh ingredients including sweet roasted garlic and red shallots. This dish has minimal spice, and unlike the pad Thai, which tries to balance five different types of flavours, our pad med ma muang only tries to balance three, sweet, savoury with a hint of chilli; the spice is well balanced against the crunchy cashew nuts. For those that have tried this dish during the Thai New Year celebrations and loved it, will be happy to know that it is part of our lunch specials menu and can be found at your local P’Nut!
