What is Chao Long and why is Vietnamese food so popular in Palawan?

There is one noodle soup that Palaweños say tastes like home: Chao Long. It is served any time of the day‚ and is widely available in any part of Puerto Princesa City and its neighboring towns in Palawan.

An integral part of the local Palaweño cuisine, Chao Long is the Filipino version of Pho, Vietnam’s traditional noodle soup. Localized to meet the Filipino palate, Chao Long has a sweeter broth than any regular Pho, with heftier chunks of meat, and a generous amount of rice noodles.

Where Pho is traditionally served with a side of lime and bean sprouts, Chao Long in Palawan features bean sprouts peppered on top of the dish, with calamansi on the side.

Interestingly enough, what is referred to as Chao Long in Palawan is widely different from what Chao Long is in Vietnam.

In Vietnam, Chao Long is also a dish, but it is closer to the Filipino lugaw, or rice porridge.

We were able to sample Chao Long in Viet Ville, a restaurant located in Brgy. Sta. Lourdes in Puerto Princesa serving a new fusion of Vietnamese and Filipino cuisines.

The restaurant has several versions of Chao Long, including the Pork Soup Bone Chao Long (P215) or the SBS, the most famous among Palaweños. They also have the Pork Spareribs Chao Long (P245), Chicken Chao Long (P230), and Beef Stew Chao Long (P235).

Other Vietnamese dishes are also available in this restaurant, including Spring Rolls (P305) and Banh Mi (P25 - P240).

And to circle back to the Chao Long - Pho - Lugaw relations, Viet Ville also serves the Vietnamese version of Chao Long or the rice porridge (P170).

You might be wondering why there is so much Vietnamese cuisine in Puerto Princesa. Back in the ‘70s, Vietnamese refugees — also known as boat people — traveled to neighboring countries after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Palawan was one of the places they fled to.

At that time, Vietnamese refugees established small eateries to sell food as a means of living.

Decades later, wherever you go in Puerto Princesa, many roadside eateries and restaurants now serve a fusion of Vietnamese and Filipino cuisine, not unlike Viet Ville.

There are many reasons to visit Palawan in general, and Puerto Princesa in particular. Let savoring a bowl of Chao Long be one of them.

— LA, GMA Integrated News