Chun Po

Chun Po
18 Glenferrie Road
Malvern
(03) 9509 9624
Google map

Being away from family means that we miss the big family gatherings and dinners. With only 2 of us here and our families are far away from us, we are always up for a big Chinese dinner together. I cannot remember how the twitter conversation started but I believed someone mentioned pork hock and Chun Po came up and somewhat made a decision to catch up for dinner. Bizzare but I do love these adhoc but spontaneous decisions.

Chun Po has been around for a long time and the same chef has been working and cooking here for the last 13 years. I think I was more excited about this meal than anyone else. I had a dental issue and it was resolved the day before so finally after months of agony and pain, I can finally chew on both sides. So bring on the food!

It was always good to start with a good dish. The mudcrab was served with a simple garlic, ginger and spring onion sauce and egg noodles. The flesh was firm and fresh. The sauce was thick and it went so well with the noodles. It was so flavourful. I can eat it all by myself. You could just hear the sucking and licking of fingers on the table.

Mudcrab and noodle

The simple long bean with minced pork was a hit on the table. I love the added small crispy fried anchovies to the dish. It brought the dish to another level. I will try and recreate this dish. The flavour was bursting in the mouth with every bite. Many of us went back not seconds but thirds and fourths!

string beans with minced pork and anchovies

I love my meat but I love tofu as well. We ordered the deep fried tofu with salted egg. Instead of coating with normal egg, it is coated with salted egg and then fried. It did have a weird texture. It reminded some of us of the ‘smelly tofu’ texture. They were more porous looking? @stickifingers and I love it but probably not a huge favourite with the rest.

Deep fried tofu with salty egg

I gave the table a choice between duck and fish and fish won. So for the next dish, we had steamed Barramundi with light soya, seasame and loads of spring onions.  The fish was well cooked and the sauce was simple but tasty. It is basically simple Cantonese home cooking. This is what Mister and my mum would cook at home as well.

Steamed barramundi with soya sauce and spring onions

The next dish was a defintely favourite with the boys on the table. Don’t get me wrong, I love this dish as well. It is fatty pork stew with preserved vegetable or in Cantonese, mui choy kau yoke. It is a very popular dish back in Asia. I always have it with porridge but I can have it with just rice. It is fatty, oily and not very healthy but it has such an intense taste. This really reminds me of home and having supper after a night out. Nice memories

Pork stew with preserved vegetables

The next dish was a little disappointing after all the punchy flavours that we had from the rest of the dishes. It was a simple kailan and mushroom stir fry. Wonder why we did not order the pork hock? Must make a mental note for the next time!

Kai lan with mushrooms

And it ended with fruits and corn jelly~ I just love the sweet corn jelly dessert. It was great to sit on a round table and enjoy dinner together. There was a lot of laughing and talking and it didn’t matter if it was across the table. I love the food because it was good but most importantly, I had great company yet again. So thanks to @stickifingers @rippingyan and your partners, @taylem and of course, @th0i3 for a great dinner. I miss communal dinners like these. Till the next time

So you like having a big communal dinner with family or a small intimate one?