Red Bee Media.
NARRATOR: Previously on MasterChef Australia,
MELANIE: The Everything Box.
Ah!
ANDY: Your personalised pressure test dish.
The invention test.
Each challenge produced some incredible dishes.
Got to shoot for the stars, I think.
I'm emptying the tank today and it feels good.
..and the top four won immunity.
ANDY: That is unbelievable.
JOCK: That's MasterChef-winning dish stuff.
Then the winners of the week battled it out
for the final pin of the season...
Competitive me is coming out.
I cannot afford to lose.
..with Julie finally bagging the bling.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) (SQUEALS)
Tonight, it's an epic three-round elimination...
I need to bring out the big guns.
..and an emotional goodbye.
# 'Cause you're hot, then you're cold
# You're yes, then you're no
# You're in, then you're out
# You're up, then you're down
# You're wrong when it's right
# It's black and it's white
# We fight, we break up
# We kiss, we make up
# You're hot, then you're cold
# You're yes, then you're no
# You're in, then you're out
# You're up, then you're down. #
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Morning!
Down you come.
First things first,
unfortunately, Mel's feeling a little under the weather,
so she won't be joining us today.
Julie, Mindy, Billie, Daniel,
you're sitting pretty up there in the gantry. No pressure.
But everyone else...
..you have no such certainty.
You've all got black aprons on,
which means one of you will be going home today.
Today's cook is another MasterChef classic,
and it's one of the hardest we can throw at you.
It'll take place over three rounds.
What? Oh!
Three rounds? Are you kidding me?
That is so intense.
Under these three cloches behind us are three ingredients.
You need to choose one ingredient
and feature it in a dish.
However,
you'd want to use it sparingly,
because if you find yourself in round two,
you'll only have whatever is left of your ingredient to cook with.
And if you find yourself in round three,
same rules apply.
Oh, my God. Bloody hell.
One ingredient used across three rounds.
You really need to think about how you get the most
out of your ingredient to make it last the distance.
If you're organised, you have nothing to worry about.
But if you're not,
you might find yourself going home today.
Are you ready to see your choices?
Oh, yeah. Yes, please.
The first cab off the rank...
..pumpkin.
Pumpkin. Wow.
Nice and easy.
Not many excited faces about the pumpkin.
TOMMY: No, thank you.
Second choice...
..snapper. Beautiful.
Everyone's allowed to use the snapper today, except for Aldo.
(LAUGHTER)
That's fine. Pumpkin is good too.
And finally...
..chicken.
Pumpkin, snapper and chicken.
Whichever ingredient you choose,
you only get one of them to use over the three rounds.
In the first round,
you'll have 30 minutes to cook...
OK. Oh, my God.
Wow.
..so pick the ingredient that you think you can utilise best
over that time.
"Choose wisely" is an understatement.
Aldo,
mate, that was a decent reaction for the snapper, to say the least.
Look, it's all about, for me, cooking with seafood,
and you give me a snapper,
it's mine.
Tommy,
we've done this challenge a few times.
Did you do it with the cod?
Yes, we did it with Murray cod.
I was luckily good enough to go past the first round,
and not have to cook the two other rounds,
but I know how heavy the three-round cook days are.
Alright, guys, the pantry and the garden, they're open.
The top two dishes from this round
will save themself from elimination
and they'll be up on the gantry.
So, you six, good luck.
Your 30 minutes starts now.
Go, go! Go, go!
Epic challenge. Love it.
Whether you are part of a restaurant,
making sure that you use absolutely everything you possibly can,
that's kind of where we're at, in the industry and in the world today.
Totally.
But also, on a home cooking basis,
where, you know, there's a Sunday chicken roast,
then there's another dish,
then there's another dish that spans out through the week.
I think these guys, whether they've been in the industry or not,
they should be familiar with using the whole thing.
100%.
We don't want our contestants to be wasting food.
You know, we're top ten.
They ought to be able to get the maximum out of any ingredient
we give them, let alone just these three.
In saying that, I don't think it's easy.
No.
With 30 minutes in round one, how much of the fish do you use?
Do you throw your cards all in,
or am I going, "There's still round two and round three to go..."
Yeah.
"..which I'm going to need to flex on so I'm up on the gantry."
Oh, shit! Chicken!
One ingredient for three rounds is quite intimidating.
So my strategy is to only use just a small amount of fish
for this round.
Sarah? Yes.
What's going on? You've gone fish, obviously, you've got snapper.
Yes. So I'm doing, like, a coconut base.
I've got some cucumbers,
I'm going to do a bit of a tempered spice.
It's kind of like a really fresh snapper sliced ceviche,
but more Indian style.
Sweet. Are you thinking about round two,
or have you decided, "This is my doozy dish"?
No, I think this is a really nice dish.
I'm hoping you like it.
It's something that I think I can pull off quite quickly in this time,
but has a lot of good flavours going on.
Good luck. Thanks.
It's top 10 week. Everyone has proved that they deserve to be here.
So today, potentially being the last day in the competition
is hitting home,
'cause I actually left the kitchen at top nine last time,
so I'm just really pushing to get through and at least make it
to where I got to last time.
Yes, Keyma. Go, Keyma.
Come on, Keyma.
OK.
I'm making a tiradito, which is a Peruvian type of ceviche,
and it has influences from Japanese cuisine.
I'm going to just fillet it in kind of a sashimi style,
a bit thinner than that,
and I'm making, like, a leche de tigre with passionfruit,
and I'm going to try to make an emulsion with aji rocoto,
which is a Peruvian aji.
My strategy is to go all-in in round one.
So delicate. Oh, my God.
Think, think.
So for the snapper,
I'm going to use a whole fillet.
Making something I know is tasty,
that I know that it's going to be a good dish.
It's a risk, definitely,
so I'm pushing hard.
This dish...
BILLIE: There's a lot of raw fish going on, hey?
Yeah, I think it's, you know, it's a pretty...
Smart. ..smart move, really.
Is she doing, like, a curry or something?
Yeah, I'm not sure.
OK, done and done.
I've chosen the chicken,
and I'm doing a super, super quick Indian sort of style curry,
some rice, just gonna smash it out.
Let's go, Alvin.
I feel OK about this challenge.
It's always a little bit nerve-racking, sort of,
trying to cook something in 30 minutes.
It's all about decision making, so...
And I hope I'm making the right decision.
I picked chicken, because I cook a lot with chicken,
and I know various ways of cooking with chicken.
So it should be one that I can actually use
sparingly and strategically.
I'm making some fried chicken wings.
It needs to be fried really crispy, and it's got some spice to it,
so it's all about the coating,
and I'm marinating the chicken currently in some cincalok,
which is this great, yummy Malaysian sort of fermented shrimp,
and, yeah, that's it really.
And some really nice sort of fresh herb salad.
That could go really well.
JULIE: Smells good.
God, he knows how to cook Italian food.
Mm-hm.
Today, it's all about snapper,
and I'm going to start with just a simple dish,
which is a Sicilian salad dish.
I just cut a little fillet of the fish,
because if I'm going to go to the second round or three,
I need as much as fish possible.
Aldo. Hello.
Snapper's your choice.
Yeah.
What's your round one dish?
My round one dish will be snapper alla Siciliana,
normally which is a cod but I'm going to use a snapper,
because that's what you gave me today.
It's going to be just done in paper and foil...
Yep. ..baked in the oven,
and then you're going to have the classic Sicilian flavours,
olives, anchovy, capers, pine nuts and tomatoes.
Good enough to keep you safe up in the gantry, you reckon?
Look, that's up to you. I'll try to cook on my best.
So you're telling me that you're going to put this one,
this tiny piece of snapper... Yep.
..in paper, then in foil, then bake it,
and cross everything that it comes out perfectly cooked?
Yep.
It is a risky dish to cook today,
because I'm not going to have any idea
of knowing if it's cooked or not
until the judges are going to open that parcel.
It is all about the fish.
I got no doubts that the sauce is going to be amazing.
It's going to be a bomb full of flavour.
The only doubts that I got is the cooking of this fish.
The pressure is on, eh?
It's so risky.
Why have I done this to myself?
'cause you're halfway through your time.
15 minutes to go.
15 minutes. Come on, gantry! JULIE: Come on, guys!
DANIEL: Come on, guys!
Pretty insane, what's being cooked in 30 minutes in this kitchen,
I've got to say. I know.
Oh, my God, I'm so glad to be on the gantry today.
This is the sort of challenge I dread in this kitchen,
where it comes down to the tiniest little thing.
I have quite a few dishes that I really, really love using fish.
First dish is just going to be a raw fish salad,
called goi ca, usually with ca mai,
but, you know, snapper is beautiful in this dish as well,
so I'm just going to make a raw snapper fish salad.
Just super, super simple flavours, with a tamarind and peanut sauce.
I think I'm pretty good in terms of rationing.
I always make sure I have enough for the next round.
I'm not going to go balls to the wall and use everything
and don't have anything for next round.
So in round one, I'm only going to use one side
of the top loin,
and if I am in round two, and round three, I'll still have,
you know, the other top loin, the belly and the head and bones.
I'm feeling pretty good, you know?
Coming in, I was nervous, of course,
but that's what you do when you're in MasterChef, you know?
It's elimination after elimination.
If you can't go through elimination then you don't deserve to win it.
It smells good, Mon.
Montana, you are moving.
Yes, I'm moving.
You had chicken? Yes.
What's the first round dish?
Curry with rice. For round one?
Yes, yes, yes.
OK.
Jock and Andy are definitely surprised that I'm doing a curry.
It's not really my style of cooking in this kitchen.
Usually, when you make a curry, you want to cook it for a long time,
really get all the flavour out of those ingredients,
but I don't have that luxury today.
I'm starting to think that this might be the wrong dish idea,
but it's too late to change anything now.
Just got to push on through.
Sorry, guys, but I need to reset this round.
My sauce is freaking amazing.
I'm super stoked about it,
and it's the classic flavour that I was looking to achieve today.
It needs eight minutes, that's all.
The way that I want to cook this fish is al cartaccio,
which means wrapped in paper,
and it's a classic technique.
It all concentrates the steaming into the parcel,
and then will allow the fish to cook.
My dish is in the oven. It's all good to go.
It's all going to lean on to the cooking of the fish,
so that's my hope, that this fish is going to save me today.
Looking good, Keyma.
I have my fish filleted and curing,
and I have my leche de tigre pickling in some jalapenos.
I have the rocoto chilli on the go
and I'm going to just add some cress on top.
Today is about, you know,
trying to be more daring and ballsy.
Using so much fish is a risk, huge risk,
so I really hope it will pay off and save me from the second round.
In this round, only the top two will be safe and on the gantry.
You've got 10 minutes to go. 10 minutes. Come on!
Come on! 10 minutes!
I'm doing OK. I'm making my sauce. My salad's basically done.
I've got to wash some herbs, but, I mean, I'm on the right track.
I've just got to move really, really quickly now.
This dish is a version of a dish that my mum used to make for me,
and it was a special dish.
My little twist, however, is a chilli salt cure on the fish.
I think it just gives it a really nice layer of spicy saltiness,
and it kind of just changes the texture of the fish
a little bit.
This is my best dish I can do in 30 minutes.
Hopefully, I don't have to go into round two.
SARAH: My snapper is cured
and I like the amount of flavour that's coming through,
so I'm going to rinse off this cure and slice into my little fillets.
JULIE: How's your cure, Sare? Is it good?
Yeah, it's nice. Beautiful.
In this round, Tommy and Keyma are both curing their snappers,
and they've got incredible palates,
so I really need to make sure
that the flavour of those beautiful spices are coming through.
It's a battle of the cured snapper today.
Three minutes, guys! Three minutes!
JOCK: Come on! MINDY AND BILLIE: Let's go!
JULIE: Come on! I'm back! I'm back!
DANIEL: Billie, they made Julie jump,
and they didn't even say her name this time.
Oh, stop it! "Three minutes."
She's like, "Aagh!" (LAUGHS)
MONTANA: So, everything's almost done.
Just need to get that chicken cooked and plate up.
I had this idea of perfect maryland
finished off in that curry sauce,
just brought up to the perfect cook.
But probing it, it's still quite pink and tight on the bone.
I'm not serving the judges raw chicken,
so I'm cutting off bits and just throwing that in the curry.
Ugh!
ALDO: Come on, come on, Aldo! Come on, come on, Aldo!
I'm taking a big risk to not unwrapping the fish.
But I just want to present this way.
I'm not going to take it out of the paper.
So it's up to you to unwrap it.
It's a present. You do you, mate.
I just hope it's a perfectly cooked present. (CHUCKLES)
OK, I have this, this, this.
So, I'm going to start just plating up,
because I want this to go really beautiful.
One minute to go! BILLIE: Come on, guys!
DANIEL: Let's go, guys! Come on, let's go!
ALVIN: Chicken's looking good.
I finish frying my chicken.
It looks like it's got a nice, crunchy coating.
I'm happy with my sauce. It's well balanced.
I've been conservative,
only using the chicken wings and the drumettes for this round.
Because if we find ourselves in round two,
we are left with whatever we haven't used of that ingredient.
JOCK: Ten!
ALL: Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!
Five! Four! Three! Two! One!
That's it!
(WHISTLES) Great work, guys!
That was tough. BILLIE: Good job, everyone.
The first dish we want to taste belongs to Aldo.
(CHEERING) OK, let's start.
MINDY: Go, Aldo!
Whoo-hoo!
Aldo, what did you make?
So, it's snapper alla Siciliana.
You must be wigging out right now.
You obviously don't know how that fish is cooked inside.
No.
Whoa. Makes ME nervous.
Should we have a look?
Oh...
It's still pretty hard to tell.
We're going to find out.
Do you wanna have a look?
Aldo...
..what is brilliant is the flavour that you got into your sauce.
The balance of the anchovies
are at the centre point of that Mediterranean sauce
with the tomatoes and everything else.
It's what makes it so delicious.
But...
..the fish was just... it was a touch over.
And I think it's just the residual heat
as it sat in the bag without opening it up.
The beautiful part for me is how the moisture of the fish
has leached out into that tomato sauce.
And along with the capers, the anchovies, the tomatoes,
it's just a seafood wonderland in there.
The fish is slightly over, though.
Cracking dish, though. But it's a cracking dish.
Thank you.
Next up, Keyma. Whoo!
(LAUGHTER)
Loving life.
MINDY: Whoo! BILLIE: Go, Keyma!
Keyma, talk us through the dish.
This is Peruvian-style tiradito.
It has influences from Japanese cuisine.
So, it's cut in sashimi style
and it has a ricotta emulsion as well.
Keyma...
Oh!
Thank you!
We like this version. Very good.
We often say that you should bottle sauces and sell them.
That there, you could sell.
Straight to the bank with that.
And that's what made your dish.
You were confident because you did go hard
on how much fish that you used.
You know, a whole side with two rounds to go.
There ain't too much fish left.
No.
What a day to bring it.
Well done, Keyma. Thank you!
DANIEL: Come on, Keyma! Love ya, Keyma. Well done!
Next up, Montana.
Montana, what have you made us?
Chicken curry with a tomato salad.
The curry hasn't had that time to be finessed
to where it's just peaking with flavour.
I think you need to make a smarter choice in round two,
because that could depend on whether you go into round three or not.
Yeah. Next up, Alvin.
Alvin, what have you made us?
ALVIN: I made fried chicken.
Decent fried chicken.
With the coating, it's a little bit uneven
across the whole surface of the chicken.
And on any other day, that would be fine,
but this is the nitty-gritty today.
Thanks, mate. Thanks, Alvin.
Next up, Tommy.
(CHEERING)
Today I made a Vietnamese chilli salt snapper salad.
Tommy...
..brilliant dish.
I particularly like the cure on the fish.
It's got a bit of body, and a chew to it, and a bounce.
Then, onto the salad,
everything that is in there is crunchy and delicious.
And what ties it all in together, of course, is the sauce.
I think it's beautiful, mate.
This will be up somewhere around the top, I can see it.
Well done, mate. Thanks, guys.
ALDO: Yes, Tommy!
Sarah, let's go.
DANIEL: Come on, Todd. Come on.
SARAH: I am feeling so nervous.
There's already been two great cured fish dishes.
So I'm just hoping that I've done enough.
Because only two of us can be safe from round two.
Sarah, what did you make?
I did a cured snapper with tempered spices and masala papad.
We all knew that we were going to get
a few raw or cured fish dishes today.
You know, nature of the beast - 30-minute cook.
There's been two really epic ones.
We've got three on our hands now, 'cause that is really, really good.
It's another belter. Thank you. Thank you.
I loved it, too.
I think you were very delicate
with the way that you played with the spices in this dish.
That's what carried the magic, I think, for me -
very, very light touch.
And it needed to be for a dish like that.
Well done. Thank you.
Nice one, Sarah. Thank you. Thanks.
Well, you only had 30 minutes for that first round.
Most of you managed to put together something super tasty
with the ingredients you chose.
But it came down to a battle of fish dishes.
One of those dishes blew us away.
That dish...
..belonged to Keyma.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
Oh, my God! It is... It feels like I'm in the clouds.
(LAUGHS)
The next top dish was a choice between two -
Tommy...
..and Sarah.
At the end of the day,
we give it to the dish that had the best dimensions of flavours.
And that dish belonged to Sarah.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
MINDY: Whoo-hoo!
(GROANS)
I don't wanna go into round two!
Unlucky, Tommy. You just missed out there, mate.
It sucks to be so close and not get it.
Right, unfortunately, the four of you,
you're in round two.
This round, you'll have 45 minutes..
..using whatever is left of either your fish or your chicken.
Again, the best two dishes,
they'll save their makers from elimination.
And your time starts now.
(CHEERING)
TOMMY: Just missing out in round one is a double-edged sword.
One, it gives me that confidence of almost getting up to the gantry.
But two, I have to cook against Aldo, Alvin and Montana.
Come on, man.
DANIEL: Tommy! Let's go, mate.
KEYMA: Beautiful pineapple. Nice.
Round two, I'm going to make a canh chua,
which is a Vietnamese fish broth -
tomatoes, tamarind, pineapple.
Canh chua is that perfect harmony of sweet, sour, spicy and fragrant.
The first thing I've got to do is start my broth.
The broth needs to build that flavour.
I'm going to use the fish head for building that broth flavour.
Crush that head, Tommy! BILLIE: Nice work, Tommy.
Then I'm going to use the collars
as the main kind of protein for the dish.
I'm feeling pretty good.
I've just got to motor and make sure I get this broth working.
Smells good already, Aldo.
I'm going to cook snapper all'Acqua Pazza my second round.
This dish that I'm making, it's a Neapolitan classic.
I'm going back to the place that I love most on the planet.
And it's my home town.
Normally, this dish is based on using seawater to poach the fish in.
But today, I'm using mussels and pipis
to replicate the flavour of the seawater.
Aldo. How we doing?
What's the round two snapper dish? All'Acqua Pazza.
What's in yours, man? What's happening?
I got fish stock started, just classic, roasting the bone.
From the snapper bones? From the snapper bone, yeah.
Then I got white onions, fennel and celery.
Yeah. Deglazed with white wine.
Just let it cook away.
And you're using, what, one fillet to sit in the Acqua Pazza?
One fillet, yeah, to poach in the Acqua Pazza.
After this round, I'm going to have very little fish left.
So I really hope this dish will keep me safe from round three.
OK, now, regroup, focus, think, straight.
I actually made this dish before -
in season 10, on my elimination day.
It didn't end very well because my Acqua Pazza was over-salty.
So, from round one, overcooking the fish,
I definitely had a double redemption today.
Alvin, you got a clove of garlic there?
Whoo! Yeah!
Whoo! Nice work, Alvin!
ALVIN: I am making a Malaysian-style roast chicken,
which is called ayam percik.
It's not your typical roast chicken that you get.
It's more sort of saucy.
It's got that lovely sort of Malaysian flavours
that I know very well.
This is a Malaysian mum dish.
If there's one thing I know in this competition,
it's that I can rely on my palate.
And this is definitely what is going to save me
in round two from going into round three.
MINDY: Smelling good, Alvin! You go, girl!
What's she doing?
DANIEL: Is she doing, like, a stuffed chicken?
Yeah, not sure.
JULIE: It's interesting - she took the skin off.
I know.
Montana. Hello.
Hit us with it.
So, chicken skin crumb. OK.
Um, chicken fat caramel.
Um, cinnamon parfait.
And then I'm playing up on
whether pickled blackberries or charred plums.
You are doing sweet! I am doing sweet.
With chicken. With chicken.
Never thought I'd ever say it. Yeah...
Wow!
I feel like you have just pushed all of your chips in, in round two.
Is that how you feel? Um, yeah.
Definitely.
I've never made chicken in a dessert before,
so this is the biggest risk I've taken this kitchen, ever.
You do NOT want to fall into round three
and you've got 15 minutes to save yourself.
(SHOUTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT)
Are you going to reduce it much or what?
Yeah, I'm going to try to reduce as much as I can, man.
Classic Tommy broth today. I'm going to play to my strengths.
I'm frying off my fish now.
Garlic oil is on the run.
I'm going to char up some of my pineapples.
I've just got a few things running, but they're in the works.
I fry my fish collars in some of my garlic oil
just to give it that extra layer of kind of savouriness.
And they're looking pretty good.
Sorry, man. Sorry. You're right.
I'm working like a madman in this cook.
I've only got 15 minutes to do so much.
I have no time to fluff around.
Just cook, cook, cook, cook and cook.
Tommy. Hey, boys, are you going? We're great.
I feel like you're going back to brothland.
Brothland. I'm going to serve you guys the wings today.
Collars, sweet-sour broth, garlic oil, chilli,
you know, herbs and toppings.
Just all the good flavours.
It's all about getting out of round three.
So, I just got to make this dish,
like, really, really popping, you know? Sounds good.
Beautiful. SARAH: Let's go, Aldo.
I need to strain it again because I want it very clean.
OK, but you've got to get that fish in, mate.
No matter what, I need to cook this fish
perfect, spot on,
and my head, it's all over the shop.
Just leave it. Leave it.
Leave it. Leave it. Leave it. I'm just checking.
The fish is poaching.
And these are going to be the longest minutes of my life.
Take a breath. Get ready.
I can hear Mindy screaming, Sarah yelling as well.
Julie that keeps saying, "Come on, Aldo."
And I'm getting so overwhelmed.
Shake it off, idiot.
The reality is I don't have enough fish left to cook in round three.
This fish needs to be perfect.
Oh, my God.
ALVIN: I'm making ayam percik,
which is a little bit like roast chicken.
So, for this dish, I'm using the chicken thighs.
I've got the chicken done, the rice is cooked.
I'm just making my sambal now.
It looks like I'm under control.
Alvin. Hi.
What are you doing here? So, I'm making a sambal kelapa,
which is literally just desiccated coconut.
I'm going to rub some of the toasted belacan in there. Yeah.
And then going to have some lemon juice sort of through there,
and that's it.
So it kind of goes well with that dish.
So it's like a side hustle. Chilli?
Yeah, there's chilli as well. There's chilli powder.
Yeah. You're, like, hammering chilli?
No, I'm not going to hammer chilli because this is actually quite mild.
Yeah. Very mild. Did you want me to hammer the chilli?
No, no, I'm cooking. I'm cooking the way I cook.
You cook the way you cook.
JULIE: It smells awesome.
Thanks.
Just had to check whether you're talking about mine.
(JULIE LAUGHS)
I sure am.
In case you haven't noticed, I am a glass half empty person.
I don't want to be in round three
because then it's just me and another person.
And those are high odds.
Five minutes to go. Come on!
(SHOUTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT)
Let's go, guys.
DANIEL: That's coming along, Mon.
Alright? Yes. Got a pretty clear idea.
It's just...it's risky, but we'll see.
If it pays off... Yes. That's the plan.
All my elements are done, my crumb's finished, my caramel's in a jar,
my charred plums are all finished
and that parfait is looking good.
JULIE: Beautiful.
I'm taking a bit of a risk with this one,
so I've just got to push and, yeah, make it perfect.
It's chickeny.
It's ready.
The fish is out of the broth.
And I'm definitely sure that this piece of fish
cooked better than round one.
And I'm happy with that.
I know that the broth, it's good as well.
So, it's all coming down more the other guys have done behind me.
Oh, that looks beautiful.
Oh, I'm so happy with that.
I thought my round one dish was good
but this is taking it to the next level.
That tastes like, I bet, out of round three
and hopefully it will keep me safe.
Come on, guys! This is it.
ALL: Ten,
nine, eight,
seven, six,
five, four,
three, two,
one.
Whoo!
Good job, Tommy.
The first dish we'd like to taste belongs to Aldo.
Go, Aldo!
Let's do it.
Bravo! Whoo! Go, Aldo!
Aldo, what have you made us?
It's fillet of snapper all'Acqua Pazza.
It's a classic Neapolitan dish.
It's the dish the fishermen they eat
when they're coming straight off the ocean,
picking up the fishing, basically.
Good news. Fish was perfect this time.
Well done on redemption on that.
And then, mate, it just got better from there.
The broth itself, although it is subtle,
you get the pipis, you get the mussels, you get the snapper,
a wisp of tomato, which works so well with the lemon
and a touch of the anchovy.
It's, like, it's all there and it's really well done in 45 minutes.
Aldo, great edition of all'Acqua Pazza.
You can taste the pipis, you can taste the mussels.
And there's a beautiful balance in there
from the acidity and the sweetness of the tomato.
And when that joins together with the parsley oil, the lemon juice...
I think it's a great dish, mate. It's a great dish.
Well, done, mate. Thank you. Thank you, guys.
And next up, it's Alvin.
Alvin, what did you make?
I made ayam percik, sambal kelapa and coconut rice.
Alvin...
..the chicken itself is cooked perfectly.
Smart to go to the thighs,
because not only do you get the luxury of them
being a bit more flexible,
but they also produce a lot of chicken flavour into that sauce.
And then the sauce, it's, like, sweet, sour, salty.
And then you get to the coconut sambal,
which is just littered with that belacan,
which is just... gives the funk element to the dish
which we've known to love from dishes with you.
And your coconut rice is perfect. Great dish. Just not enough of it.
Listen, it wasn't in the brief to cook lots of it.
I could have eaten a whole bowl of that.
Yeah. So could I. It was super tasty.
Great dish, mate. Well done. Nice one, Alvin.
Now, Montana with a chicken dessert. Let's go.
MONTANA: There is so much pressure riding on this chicken dessert.
Every element, except for that parfait, is a bit of a gamble.
It just comes down
to whether the judges actually enjoy the flavour of the dish.
If not, I can guarantee that round three cook for me.
OK, Montana, what have we got?
Cinnamon parfait, chicken fat caramel, chicken skin crumb.
So, we have a sweet dish here. Yeah.
How come?
I just thought if there's any day to play to my strengths,
it's this round.
I just wanted to stand out, I guess.
Kudos to you.
It's such a brave thing to do
to walk into this kitchen and cook a chicken skin dessert.
By the sounds of it, we're going to taste the chicken.
It's just whether or not it works together on the plate.
Montana...
I can taste chicken. Confirmed.
The parfait is lovely.
And you get the fat that's inside that caramel
that then coats your mouth
and then the crunch in the crumb and the chicken skin
sort of reinforces that chicken.
It's actually quite a clever dessert.
Thank you.
The genius thing is the cinnamon,
because it is that savoury spice
that really can work well with sweet and savoury dishes.
The way you thought about this is a massive, massive deal.
Chicken skin dessert.
You can tick it off. Well done, Montana.
Next up, Tommy! Tommy!
Tommy, what have you made us?
Today, I've made you canh chua with the snapper wings.
Thank you.
(COUGHS)
Chilli?
No.
I think it was a bit of... I think it was a scale.
(GROANS)
Oh...
Mate...
Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.
Tommy...
Can't get around it, man.
Cannot get around it.
Like, they're all scales. Yeah.
It's a shame because the broth, delicious.
Sweet-and-sour pineapple, sweet-and-sour blistered tomatoes.
It's still got that beautiful background hum of the fish head
that I know that you wanted.
Without the scales, a perfect dish.
I've got no issues with the flavour, Tommy.
I've got no issues with the way you cooked the wings.
There's just one major problem.
Yeah. Unlucky, mate.
Thanks, guys. Thanks, Tommy.
I'm so disappointed in myself.
I definitely know I'm into round three now.
Tommy, tiny mistake. Brush it off, mate.
Just get ready, OK?
Yeah.
(SIGHS)
Alright, Tommy, we already know that you're into round three.
The rest of you made our decision today very difficult,
but...
..there were two dishes that were simply better.
And those dishes were cooked by...
..Aldo...
..and...
..Montana.
Congratulations. You two are safe.
Unfortunately, that means, Alvin,
you'll be joining Tommy in round three.
Tommy and Alvin, we're giving you one hour
to cook us a dish with whatever is remaining of your chosen ingredient.
You two have one last chance.
Bring us a dish that will save you from elimination.
Yep.
Your 60 minutes starts now.
(SHOUTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT)
Going up against Tommy isn't a good feeling.
Tommy is such a lovable character.
He's like a little brother.
It's come to a part of the competition where we're all so close.
Every elimination is going to cut deep.
But this is particularly deeper because this is just me and Tommy.
I hate it that I find myself in this position where I'm battling him.
And he's a titan.
Go, Alvin.
But I don't want to go home.
I need to really go for it.
He isn't doing drunken chicken, is he?
I need to bring out the big guns.
For round three I'm going to make Drunken Chicken 2.0.
(CHEERING)
ALDO: Yes, Alvin.
You know it from my season.
It was one of my first challenges of childhood memories.
And I won the challenge.
My dish is called Drunken and Bruised.
Mmm.
Mate...
Thank you.
Ohh! That is amazing.
Thanks very much.
Back in season two the recipe was so popular,
there was a national shortage of Shaoxing wine.
And in Asian shops everywhere,
there is a little board
that says 'Alvin's Drunken Chicken ingredients here'.
So, this is a good tribute to what made me in the show.
In fact, I still have people recognising me from Drunken Chicken
rather than my actual name.
I'm hoping Drunken Chicken 2.0 can keep me safe from this elimination.
Pretty cool, hey? DANIEL: Oh, I just got goosebumps.
Goosebumps. Yeah.
Let's go, Tommy! Go, Tommy!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TOMMY: Going up against Alvin...
..is absolutely gut-wrenching.
We have this kind of brotherly relationship,
and I would be so devastated to send Alvin home today.
I think I overheard Alvin doing a drunken chicken.
Look, that's an amazing dish, but so is this.
Good on you, Tommy! BILLIE: Come on, Tommy!
Today I'm making banh can ca kho, a dish from where my mum grew up.
It's really special to me just because it makes me feel
a little bit more connected to my mum.
Fish in a caramelised fish kind of broth/sauce.
I'm going to make this banh can out of this.
So it's like a crispy rice cake, spring onion on top, oil.
You kind of dip and just have fun with it
and it's just a really, really tasty dish.
I'm choosing to make this dish for round three
because I love Vietnamese food.
I'm using, you know, my Vietnamese heritage.
And it is good enough.
MONTANA: Nice, Tommy.
I'm fighting today.
And, look, the best cook wins today, and that...that's all that matters.
Come on, Alvin.
So I'm working on the drunken chicken.
I've got some skin that I'm sort of toasting up.
I have enough chicken left for round three,
so my miserly ways in round one and round two paid off.
Alvin. Alvin.
Hi. Shaoxing wine, peanuts, garlic.
You're going there, aren't you? I'm going there. I have no choice.
Are we drunken chicken? We're drunken chickening, yes.
Oooh!
Mate, if ever there was a day to bring it out, it's...it's today.
This was an internet sensation back in your season, if I recall.
Yes. Yes.
It's the same version, except I'm sort of obviously
going to pimp it up a little bit.
What's different about 2.0?
So I'm going to poach the, um...the chicken breasts
and then it's going to be shredded.
And then I'm going to pile it up with the bruised salad
with a lovely sort of sesame oil, palm sugar, lime juice, fish sauce,
sort of dressing, so it's going to really smack you in the face.
Will there be any of the... any of the liquor, or...?
Yeah, so I'm going to see what I can do with the liquor,
because if I can sort of have the liquor at the bottom of the plate
as well, or the bowl, that'll be lovely.
I'm excited. I'm pumped.
I'm excited.
Not just because you're making drunken chicken,
but I'm excited about 2.0.
(LAUGHS) I hope you like it.
Jock and Andy were not in my season,
and I know they haven't tasted my drunken chicken.
So there's a big risk that... there's a lot of expectations,
and high expectations sometimes can be quite fatal.
And here's the clincher.
I have not made the dish since season 2
because I couldn't bring myself to making the dish again
because it was such a hit.
So I will be devastated
if the dish that made me somewhat famous all 12 years ago
is going to be the dish that sends me home today.
30 minutes to go. Come on, fellas!
BILLIE: Go, Tommy! KEYMA: Go, Alvin!
This challenge is brutal.
It's all looking great, Alvin.
We're all in shock to see Tommy and Alvin down there cooking.
ALDO: Go, Tommy. Go, Alvin.
For Alvin and Tommy to get through this round,
their only strategy can be...
..do what you know, do what you love
and do it the very best way you know how.
I feel terrible going up against Alvin.
It just sucks to go after someone that you're so close to.
How are you going, Tommy?
Tommy?
How are you doing? I'm good, mate.
How are you doing, man?
Yeah, you know. Hanging in there.
Hanging in? Yeah.
JULIE: You're both going great.
Everything in this whole competition has led up to this cook.
Being able to cook the food that my mum has taught me...
(EXHALES HEAVILY) ..it's so special, you know?
I'm making the rice cakes here, you know,
and it's just all about, you know, that crispy and soft, pillowy stuff
that kind of really goes with the fish.
The rice cakes are one of the main elements of my dish.
You get the rice cakes and you dip it into the sauce broth.
It soaks up all that flavour.
You get a little bit of fish and mango, eat it all together
and it's just heavenly.
Just got to wait for them to crisp up all the way through
and then I can move on.
This is going to be a purler. Round three.
Yeah. Unbelievable.
Alvin.
Drunken chicken. The dish that broke the internet.
The fact that it's 2.0 excites me.
I feel like now it's all down to
how he uses the rest of that chicken in round three.
It's the same that can be said for Tommy in the back there.
After round two, he had one half of the fish.
He's already used the backbones and that in his broth,
and I feel like he's going to poach the whole fillet side as well.
The good thing is we've got a fight on our hands.
Oh, totally. So, see how this plays out.
Go, Tommy.
JULIE: Go, Tommy.
I think I've done pretty well to prove
that I deserve to be in top 10 of this season.
This dish definitely shows off quite a lot of skill.
If I execute, it will be amazing
and I think it will be my ticket into top nine.
BOTH: Tommy. Hey, boys.
How are you going? Good.
Mate, you are hustlin'! I am hustling. I need to hustle.
I need to make sure everything is perfect today
because I'm going up against Alvin.
JOCK: What's in there so far?
Um, so, caramelising sugar, so, sugar's caramelising with some oil,
onions and garlic, and then I just put some water into it.
Got it. So you're going to poach the fish in the broth?
I'm going to poach it maybe whole. Right.
And then so that you can just cut it, then have it as...
Right, so we kind of flake it off... Yeah.
..put it into the rice cake, salad on top.
And then just put it in the soup. Yep.
Gotcha. It all sounds epic, but this has to be all-time good...
Yeah. ..to keep you in the competition.
That's probably a challenge today. Yeah, it is definitely my challenge.
And I'm, you know, just going to have to bring it.
You got a lot to do, mate, and not much time left to do it.
Thanks, guys. BILLIE: Go, Tommy.
JULIE: Come on, Tommy! ALDO: Go, Tommy!
That little pan's really smoking, Tommy.
I go check on the banh cans
and they are sticking to the pan like nothing ever.
I'm definitely worried.
I've already got a lot on my plate
and now I've got to fix these banh cans.
Part of the process is always, you know, the first pancake
is always crap.
So I just need to move on, get these out so I can get the next batch in.
I have to be careful about these rice cakes
not taking over this whole cook.
I've still got my fish broth, my fish and my green mango salad
to work on.
MINDY: Tommy, do you want to do, like, one small test one
so you don't destroy the pan again?
No, I'm OK. I have time. You good?
DANIEL: You know what you're doing, man.
Yeah, you got it.
(SIGHS)
Focus.
JULIE: Just focus. Doing well, mate. Keep going.
So with all these things that I've worked on,
so far, drunken chicken 2.0 is pretty much 90% a replica of season 2.
So the difference is in the poaching liquid.
So, I'm going to turn the poaching liquid into a broth.
In season 2, I took it as is,
but now what I want to do is to take a little bit of the poaching liquid
and make sure I amp the flavour
because I really need a hum of heat sort of through it.
I add bird's eye chilli, balance it with a bit of sugar
and a bit of rice wine vinegar as well.
It will carry the flavour through with the chicken and the salad.
Ooh.
I quite like that.
Did you like that or did you not like that?
No, I quite like that.
Just... I'm just working on it.
So is this, like, the drunken chicken syrup?
It's supposed to be more like a broth.
OK. Yeah.
Right. But I'm just playing with the balance at the moment.
Are you excited?
I'm excited, actually.
We are excited.
This is a battle, and I love a battle.
It's really hard going against Tommy.
There's a 50% chance of going home.
Why is it hard? 'Cause he's...he's a gun!
So are you. Oh...
Eh...
OK. So am I. (LAUGHS)
Thanks, Jock. Good luck.
Go, Alvin. Come on, Alvin.
BILLIE: What does Marco say? "Fingers are made for burning."
JULIE: Get the ice ball out of the fridge.
It's alright, Julie. I don't need feelings anymore.
(LAUGHTER)
It's all numb from the neck down.
Come on, Tommy. Let's do it, mate.
I check on my second batch of rice cakes and they're still sticking,
but I think I can salvage a few of them.
Is that the cakes? Yeah, yeah.
They're not that great, man, but I'm OK.
I'll just quickly do this to them.
Push on, Tommy. Come on, Tommy. Thank you.
DANIEL: Come on, mate. You can do it.
(CHEERING) BILLIE: Go, Tommy!
The rice cakes were starting to look OK.
KEYMA: Just give all your attention to that fish.
I need to really just dig deep and finish off my dish.
DANIEL: How long are you putting the fish in for? Two minutes.
We wanted a battle, and that's what we've got.
Only five minutes to go!
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
Let's go, Tommy!
It would mean so much for me to stay in the competition.
ALDO: Lovely, Tommy.
MasterChef has been, you know, my whole life for about two years now.
There's something deep in my heart
that I feel like a sense of belonging with food,
and MasterChef has given me this opportunity to explore that passion.
DANIEL: Just give it a poke, man, to see if it's all...
Huh? If it...
Just give it that poke, like you did last time.
Yep. Tick. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.
OK. That's it, mate. Good on you.
Just think. Just think about these last minutes, yeah?
Finish strong, mate.
MONTANA: Looks good, Alvin.
Plating up my dish,
I have to make sure that the drunken chicken 2.0,
it is done to perfection.
I'm feeling the pressure.
The risk of doing this dish and have it judged
and not live up to its standards...
..could obliterate the legacy that is the drunken chicken.
That looks beautiful, Alvin.
With not long to go,
I taste the dish as a whole.
It tastes like how I remember it...
Ooh!
..but better.
Shit, that is good.
It transports me back to 12 years ago in this kitchen.
I'm back in the MasterChef kitchen in 2010.
That is amazing. Thanks very much.
I'm back in my mum's dining room, just drinking soup.
It's all sorts of emotion in a positive way.
(SNIFFLES) JULIE: It's alright, mate.
It's overwhelming.
This dish just changed my life
where it just...
..changed my life for the better.
You've done great, Alvin.
It's been such a battle going through this competition...
BILLIE: Looks beautiful, Alvin.
..wondering whether you belong.
And every now and then, you create dishes like this and you think...
(SNIFFLES) .."I bloody belong."
Here we go.
Ten, nine...
ALL: ..eight, seven,
six, five, four,
three, two, one!
JOCK: That's it! (APPLAUSE, CHEERING)
TOMMY: There's a lot of emotion at the end of this cook.
And it's just...it just really sucks
to have to go up against somebody that you really like.
Well done. Thanks, Jock.
Well done, Tommy. You good?
Yeah. You alright?
Just crazy hectic at the end, man.
JULIE: There are so many reasons for this level of emotion.
Yeah, it's a cooking show...
..but it's so much more than that.
You invest so much to be here
and you want so much for the food that means something to you
to translate into something beautiful for somebody else.
It's difficult to describe how much that comes to matter.
We care about it. The judges care about it.
Everybody involved in this whole process is feeling this.
It is what it is, right?
Good luck, Tommy.
Thanks, Alvin.
The nerves are all-time high.
Knowing that Alvin is doing a dish
that propelled him into the limelight
is scary.
But I know my dish is good enough.
As long as everything is really, really perfect.
Hey, boys. BOTH: Tommy.
What's going on?
ANDY: A lot.
A lot is going on, isn't it?
Tommy, what did you cook?
Today I made banh can with a ca kho, and mango salad.
That was a tough cook, wasn't it? Mm. That was a TOUGH cook.
I reckon one of the toughest I've ever been in.
Going through three cooks in a row
and just having those ups and downs just really gets to you.
There's a lot of emotion that came out from both you and Alvin
after the cook.
Oh, it's...it's a lot of pressure and...
..it's hard cooking against one other person.
Was it because you know how good he is?
Yeah. And it's...I know...
It's because I know how good Alvin is
and I know how much I need to perfect this dish.
The smallest error could mean that it's my last dish.
I don't want to go home, and it's just...
(SIGHS) It's so scary.
Mm. We'll taste.
Do you want to broth it?
Thanks, mate. Thank you.
Cheers, Tommy. Peace out, guys.
Enjoy your meal.
It looks quite...quite a tidy little set-up, doesn't it?
Interesting.
He's cooked the fish beautifully.
I was worried for him because that fish went in
with, like, six minutes to go and there was a still lot going on.
So my fear was it may have slipped from him,
but it didn't, which is great.
The broth is delicious.
I love how he kind of caramelised the sugars in it early
to give that really dark colour, because it's got a lot of body.
The snapper was cooked perfectly.
You know, it was a really nice set of pave of fish
down underneath that salad.
The salad was nice enough - bit of herbs and some shredded mango,
bit of chilli, a nice amount of heat.
The real problem lies in the rice cakes. Yeah.
Slightly undercooked.
This is a good dish, but it's not Tommy's best.
No.
And who knows where that'll land him?
Good luck, man.
Thanks, Tommy.
This is it.
Looking at Drunken Chicken 2.0,
I'm really proud of how far it's actually come
compared to the original version,
but I'm nervous presenting this to these judges.
They have no frame of reference of what the original version was like
and they have ALL the expectation.
What if it's a one-hit wonder?
Alvin. Hello.
Tell me what you cooked.
I made drunken chicken 2.0.
That was an emotional end to a long day.
Yeah, yeah.
It's been a full-on day.
Would you say round three was really more of a mental challenge
than it was a cooking challenge?
Yeah. Round three, definitely more...
..more of a mental challenge just because it's...
..you know, like, we...
(CHUCKLES) I don't think 'surviving' is the right word.
We survived the first two rounds,
but then, you know, the third round is like, "This is it," you know?
Like, it's...it's the...it's the finish line, no matter what.
This drunken chicken will either send you home
or it will revive that hit that happened all those years ago.
Yeah, well, if it is the latter,
then it's exactly what I felt when I cooked that dish.
It's... (EXHALES HEAVILY)
It was...it was quite the spark that it rekindled.
Alright.
Do you want to, uh... I would love to.
..sauce her up?
See you. Thank you.
That was full-on.
Oh!
Well...it looks the part.
It does.
I don't think I've had so much anticipation about eating a dish.
Me neither. Like, talk about build-up.
Yeah.
That was spectacular.
I didn't taste the original one that he cooked, obviously,
but THAT - that's something else.
It's beyond drunken chicken.
It's perfect, it's moist, it's tender,
it's giving your palate a hug
while it talks to you about the Shaoxing wine and the chilli.
It's very clever.
What he's done is taken drunken chicken
and...you know, this isn't a cover version -
it's like... It's a whole new band.
The drunken chicken broth is, like...
..incredible.
You know? It's a real expression of how good his palate is.
And then when it's combined with the pulled chicken breasts,
with the tang of the green mango, the beans and all of the herbs,
that's when the whole symphony starts to really go hard.
You know what it's like?
Dolly Parton sang... What was the song - I Will Always Love You?
Yeah. Great song.
Smashing. Dolly Parton smashed it.
Then along came Whitney Houston and just smashed her out of the water.
That bowl is the Whitney Houston version.
Couldn't agree more.
Alvin's brought us quite possibly the best dish he has ever made in his life.
You know what? I'm getting shares in Shaoxing wine.
(LAUGHS)
Tommy versus Alvin.
This was a MasterChef battle for the ages.
Regardless of the results today, fellas, a titan is going home.
Tommy.
Your fish, the snapper...
Yep.
It was cooked beautifully.
The broth was tasty.
But where your dish fell short were the rice cakes.
Alvin.
You took a big gamble,
bringing us a new version of the dish that made you.
We think that it might be the best dish that you've ever cooked
in your entire life.
It was truly phenomenal.
And I'm sorry, Tommy...
..Alvin's dish was unbeatable...
..and that means you're going home.
Tommy, we are losing a favourite today in many more ways than one.
Your talent speaks for yourself.
It has done the whole time you've been in this place.
Mate, you are quite simply the best Vietnamese cook
that we've ever seen in this competition.
You've impacted MasterChef in more ways than you'll ever realise, mate.
Jules...
I...I love Tommy.
You can't not love Tommy.
I loved him before I met him from watching him last season.
And I love his little boy.
His little boy calls me Uncle Julie. (OTHERS LAUGH)
And, um...he's family to me.
Thank you.
Alvin, how would you describe this guy?
Um... (CLEARS THROAT)
It was always tough battling against Tommy.
And I know he cooks, like, banging dishes
every time he comes into that kitchen.
So...it's not a victory to me.
It's...it's like cooking against a brother who's just pure joy.
Although I'm so gutted that I'm leaving,
I've got big things at home, you know?
I've got big news.
My partner, Winnie, and I are expecting another little one.
There you are! Ah-ha-ha! Mate!
Don't worry about it, you know? No more...no more tears.
I'm just so happy for my whole experience.
Tommy, unfortunately, mate, it's time to say goodbye.
(SIGHS) It is here. Gonna be a big one.
Although today wasn't my day...
..I'm leaving this competition with my head held up high.
Love you, mate.
I'm so proud of what I've done on this show.
I've made classic, traditional Vietnamese food,
and I've shared it with Australia
and I'm so happy that I've been able to do that.
Thank you.
I love you all.
Give it up for Tommy, everybody! (APPLAUSE, CHEERING)
VOICEOVER: This week on MasterChef Australia,
the mystery boxes are getting bigger.
ANDY: It's going to be a sizeable challenge.
I feel like it's a whole creature of some sort.
And so are the expectations.
DANIEL: The pressure of the competition is incredible
because I'm so out of my depth.
But the biggest shock...
No. It can't be.
Oh, my God!
..will come from their toughest critics yet.
Captions by Red Bee Media