Emman 
When you thought that everybody in Palawan calls it Chao Long, there’s one restaurant in the city that refuses to call it in its name.
The smoke’s still rising out of the red soup, making sure that it’s still hot.
You can smell the aroma of the meat and spices on your nose.
Then, there’s the white, thick noodles, covered in grease, with the chunks of meat from where the grease came, ready for you to devour.
At the table, seasonings are there for you to add up on your soup to match the flavor of your liking- fish sauce, chili sauce, bean sprouts, calamansi and herbs.
Then you spoon the soup, and as it touches your tongue, your nerves fire up.
You thought you’re awake, not until the soup hit your senses. You’d be glad you’re going to try Chao Long.
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Palawan’s Chao Long
Every region in the Philippines has a unique cuisine to offer, and Chao Long represents Palawan island.
To the people of Palawan, Chao Long is not just a food, it’s their identity.
Every person who seeks Chao Long has their own reason, aside from filling up their tummy. It’s a go-to food that relieves stress, cures hangovers, fights the chilly weather, and a date night idea for couples.
And we have the Vietnamese to thank for this comfort food.
Between 1979 to 1990s, when Saigon fell, the Vietnamese are escaping poverty and political instability in the region. The dangerous situation is so distressing that they took a chance to cross the perilous sea and head to the Philippines.
As they made it to shore, they are welcome with open arms. The Philippines back then allows entry to exiles that seek refuge and set camp to Palawan.
As we know it, they didn’t just bring themselves, they also bring their cuisine. The Vietnamese left, their Chao Long remained.
Fast forward, 45 years after the bringer of this famous noodles has stepped foot on the island, Chao Long have became a food icon of Palawan.
Where Chao Long Is Not “Chao Long”
When we say the word “Chao Long”, it’s a locally acceptable fact that it’s the rice noodle soup, with beef stew or pork-based, with some herbs and spices. Ask any local on the streets and they’ll tell you exactly that. You might even get good recommendations on where to eat.
But don’t you know that there’s one restaurant in Puerto Princesa City who refuses to call that famous noodle dish a “Chao Long”?
It turns out, the word “Chao Long” is the adopted name of the noodle dish in question.
Outside the city, just 13 kilometers up north, there’s a place that was once a refugee camp for our Vietnamese friends. Then, the camp became a village until they left.
What’s left is a restaurant that gives you the real “Chao Long”.
Viet Ville Restaurant
I can still remember the first time I stepped into the Viet Ville Restaurant with my girlfriend. We’re unwilling to look at the menu, as we know for sure that we’re ordering a Chao Long.
The waitress, a middle-aged woman, dismisses our orders immediately with her kind smile. I knew, as I looked at her face, that she didn’t want to take our orders.
She read our mind.
She then went on explaining, while maintaining her front smile, that “Chao Long” in this restaurant is not the noodle dish that these Chao Long chains around the city are serving.
She continued that Chao Long is a Vietnamese style rice porridge served with innards, meat, bean sprouts and mint. I know this is not her first time doing the “Chao Long history crash course” to diners.
She finished with a look of “so, do you still want to order that or the noodle dish?”
Of course, we order that dish in our mind. Here, they called it Pho, as it was many years ago.
So, How Is It Called Chao Long Then?
I was looking for answers around the internet and it led me to one likely answer from Ang Sarap.
As our Vietnamese friends have made ashore, they bring with them their culinary skills that they used to make a living. They opened eateries and served a rice porridge with slices of meat and blood cubes topped with herbs and referred to as “Chao Long”.
It became popular with Palaweños and called these Vietnamese eateries “Chaolongan”. Later, the Vietnamese then added Pho in their menu, the noodle dish, which surpassed the original Chao Long’s popularity.
However, the word “Chao Long” sticks to the Palawan masses. Since then, the Palaweños regarded the noodle Pho as Chao Long.
So, by the time you go to Viet Ville Restaurant, you’re wise to know what a “Chao Long” really is.