What's the difference between Panang Curry and Red Curry? Those two curries are so often confused that it can be a source of bad reviews where unsuspecting new customers think they're not getting what they paid for
The trouble with localizing any foreign cuisine to make it more suitable to the regional palette, we end up running the risk of getting flavors lost in translation. The panang curry not supposed to be soupy or even be veggie-heavy. Panang curries are typically thick in consistency and are meat-based.
Thai restaurants in North Texas have been adding veggies to their pannag and keeping it much closer to the red curry, that it has become almost indistinguishable from one another.
The coloring usually helps, with red curry being more red because of the paprika. However, in some restaurants cases, the red curry has bamboo shoots that the panang curry does not. This makes it near impossible to tell, unless you're the one who prepared it.
The moral of the story is this: if you want the real panang curry, ask for the authentic Thai style panang. Otherwise, the only difference between the two vary from restaurant to another.