Original subtitles

Oh! Oh, what have we got?

Jeez. What is that?

Some cloches. We've got five cloches.

We've got a guest. Cloches.

OK. Oh! Ooh!

Oh, there's a screen. There's a screen.

Oh, my God.

I'm really excited to be again in the MasterChef kitchen.

Every time you walk in,

it kind of feels a little bit surreal,

but it's really mixed feelings.

It feels quite a lot of pressure

when you walk into the kitchen in a black apron.

I'm not ready to go home at all. (CHUCKLES)

Oh, here we go.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

Ah. Ah... Ooh.

Yeah. The rice-paper croissant.

Ooh! Oh!

Oh! Yes, I like this one.

I'm seeing lots of little tricks and tips and hacks

and new ways of using ingredients

that I haven't even seen before.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

Crazy!

Like, these are great ideas.

I think we're definitely going

to be running with the viral trends today.

Hey.

Hello, hello, hello!

(APPLAUSE)

Hi.

Good morning, everyone. CONTESTANTS: Good morning.

Unfortunately, today is an elimination,

which means everyone wearing a black apron

is in danger of going home.

Grace, you're safe up there on the gantry.

Well done. You earned immunity with the top dish

in yesterday's challenge.

On the bright side, all this week,

we're celebrating the viral food wonders

that have captured our attention

and taken over the internet.

And today's special guest

is responsible for a great many of those.

The clip you just watched is only a tiny snippet

of the content that made today's guest blow up online.

Her most viral video

has amassed almost

200 million views!

(CONTESTANTS GASP AND EXCLAIM)

That's...

That's nuts.

What? That's impressive.

Put your hands together

for Victoria Minell.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Oh, my gosh, I can't believe it.

Vic's walking through the doors. I follow her.

Her content is absolutely awesome.

I have definitely chucked a few of those together at home

when I'm looking for a quick meal.

And you can see why she's the queen of viral week.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Victoria, salut.

Welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.

I'm so excited to be here.

I have watched every season,

and I know people come on here and probably just say that -

I kid you not, every season.

(LAUGHTER)

So, tell us, where is your love of food coming from?

From a young age, just coming home from school,

experimenting with different ingredients,

mixing together, like, mee goreng

with frozen chicken nuggets, turning...

(LAUGHTER) ..turning it into a ramen.

And I would just always experiment,

and I think that's kind of how I started.

Guys, you are all very lucky today

because Victoria has not come here empty-handed.

So, under those cloches are some ingredients

that her followers can't get enough of.

My first ingredient is...

Wow. POH: Ooh.

..cucumber.

Cuc! Noice!

Nice.

My next top viral ingredient is...

..burrata.

CONTESTANTS: Oh!

Pistachios.

Ooh.

(LAUGHTER)

Rice paper.

(LAUGHTER)

Had a gut feel on that one.

And my final top viral ingredient is...

..gochujang.

These five ingredients are all over socials.

I can see why Victoria has chosen them.

It's harder to cook when you've got

all these five beautiful ingredients.

You have ideas and recipes going through your mind,

but you can only pick one.

Your challenge is to create a dish featuring one

of Victoria's top five viral ingredients.

You have 75 minutes to make any dish you like.

We're looking for both the top and bottom dishes.

The top dish will be fast-tracked

to the immunity challenge at the end of the week.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

But because this is an elimination,

the bottom dish will send its maker home.

Victoria, before we kick it off, any words of advice?

I'm hoping to see something I've never seen before.

So, use these ingredients that I've chosen,

and spin them in ways

that you've never seen before,

and make it delicious.

Give it all you've got because your time starts now.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Come on, let's go!

Oh, sorry. Carrots.

DOT: They want to see something new,

so I think I'm gonna lean towards the rice paper today.

You know, just seeing that video

with puff pastry and filo pastry vibes with it,

that's kind of pinging ideas.

So... Mmm.

Oh, sorry. I've made a mess.

Yeah, go, Miin! Thank you!

Yeah! Go, Luce.

Annabel!

Come on.

Run! (LAUGHS)

Vinnie!

(VINNIE AND GRACE LAUGH)

So, feature element today is going to be the gochujang.

I'm making a pork barbecue sandwich

with a gochujang barbecue sauce.

Being me, being the panini guy,

I thought, "We have to make a sandwich today."

You know, sandwiches are always viral on the internet.

They're always loving cross-sections.

But today is an all-in elimination.

My dish is pretty simple,

so I need to make sure that I actually make every element,

and one of those elements needs to be the bread.

I'm making a focaccia today,

but, normally, focaccias,

you need to let it ferment for a bit.

But mine, today, I'm making in an hour,

so I'm actually subbing out a bit of the water

for some beer,

and I'm doubling the amount of yeast

so it gives that really speedy fermentation

to make the bread nice and airy and fluffy.

The focaccia needs to prove for about 20 minutes.

Vinnie, is that your bread?

Yeah. Love it!

I'm definitely cutting it a bit fine.

I know that this is going to take a really long time

to do, but we have 75 minutes,

so I'm feeling confident about my focaccia.

I know it will be delicious.

Is that pastry? Yeah, it's a dumpling wrapper.

Ooh! Yeah.

Today, is a 'big risk, big reward' kind of day.

The top dish could get me sent straight through

to that immunity challenge,

so I'm thinking I might risk it for the biscuit.

Hey, Alita. Hey, guys.

What's cracking?

Actually, I'm getting a bit weird.

OK. Yeah.

Run us through it. Cute and weird.

Yeah, cute and weird. (LAUGHS)

My viral ingredient is going to be burrata,

and you're going to see an absolute fusion dish here,

and it's going to be Italian with Chinese.

OK.

I'm taking a risk.

I'm gonna make a dumpling lasagne.

Oh! Oh, yeah. OK.

I know where you're going with this.

Yeah. You've seen the viral... Yep.

Yeah, with the layers. So...

OK, I'm gonna try and break this down.

So you're gonna have, like, dumpling wrappers...

Yeah. ..as the pasta.

Yeah. And then, you're gonna have

layers of, like, dumpling, meat.

Yep. Where does the burrata go?

Right on top or in the layers? Right on top.

There'll be a little bit of soy sauce on top,

a little bit of sesame oil.

And, then, you'll just stick your spoon into it,

through that burrata.

Ah.

So you'll get all the juices through the bottom.

Yeah. So you still get that creaminess

that you'll get in every bite.

I think it's creative.

Um, I think it's...it's viral.

I think it should be tasty. It has to be tasty.

It's gonna be tasty.

I'm looking forward to seeing this one come together.

Alright. Same. Me, too.

Thanks, guys. Good luck.

Cheers.

What are you doing, Olaolu?

What's that green stuff?

OLAOLU: Pistachio liqueur.

Oh! Hell, yeah. Yum!

I'm doing a pistachio frangipane-filled

yeasted pancake. Yeah, yeah. Yum.

Berry compote. Rosewater. Yeah. Oh, delicious!

Thank you. Sounds viral to me.

MIIN: I'm gonna use gochujang.

I'm gonna make gochujang charred cabbage

with mushrooms and a nori pangrattato.

JACK: I'm doing a leek mosaic.

It's going to be like a little roll wrapped in nori.

And then I've also got some salted roasted pistachios

on the top for some texture,

so I think it'll be really good.

I'm gonna be cooking

a pistachio carrot cake ice-cream sundae.

So I'm gonna... And I'm gonna

do the carrot cake in the microwave.

So that's like a little viral on viral on viral trend.

OK.

I'm feeling very nervous today.

I really want to stay, keep learning, keep evolving.

I have a couple of ideas.

I feel like I'm just going to go with a few different elements.

I think when I came into the competition,

I just felt that maybe I'm just not good enough.

And I think every cook

I'm trying to build that self-trust in me

and maybe, like, this will help me kind of get to the top.

Alyona, how are you? Hi!

Good. How are you? So, tell us, what are you doing?

I am making a sour cream and avocado ice-cream...

Ooh! POH: Wow.

..because heritage.

I feel like I add sour cream to anything.

So what is your ingredient? It's pistachio.

So, your pistachio will be used as...as what?

Uh, pistachio crumb

and some sour cherry compote...

With the avocado? Yeah.

And do you think that's going to balance well?

I'm kind of thinking, like,

they have a very similar flavour profile

in terms of this greenery, kind of grassy element.

Yeah.

And I think they will kind of work, play well together.

OK. Interesting.

Remember... Yeah.

..elimination day today. Yes.

OK. Good luck. Thank you.

Thank you. Good luck, Alyona.

Oh, my gosh.

After the judges' visit, I got a little bit in my head.

Is sour cream and avocado ice-cream

a bit of a crazy idea?

Is it really too risky? I mean, it's a black-apron day.

Hopefully, it's not going to cost me an apron today.

ANDY: Keep that creativity flowing.

You've only got an hour to go.

Come on! Woo! Come on, guys!

GRACE: Aaron, I can smell that from here.

It smells...

Thank you. How's it up there?

I sort of feel like the queen of the world up here a bit.

DOT: Would you like a cup of tea up there?

I'm a little bit nervous that it's an elimination today,

but I'm excited.

I'm ready to make a viral recipe.

Wearing a black apron,

you have to come and you have to impress.

So, I've never cooked Asian for the judges.

I would love to show them a different side to me.

And, you know, those beautiful Asian flavours,

I think, could get me over the line today.

Hello, Dot. Hi, guys. How are you?

How are you? Hello.

Tell us what you're making.

So I'm making prawn rice papers.

So, I'm gonna mince the prawn

between two pieces of rice paper and fry it.

Ah.

And then, I'm going to serve that

with tamarind chutney, lettuce and some fresh herbs

as a san choy bao. Yeah.

I like that. Oh, wow.

Good luck, Dot. All the best.

Thanks. Sounds good, yeah.

Looking for a real flavour punch from you?

Yes. Thank you, Dot.

Here we go. Let's hope it's good.

Hey, Petro. Hello!

How are you, mate? How's it going?

Good. And you? Very good, very good.

Very nice to meet you.

Are you gonna guess the ingredient?

Oh, I can't with this one. What are you going?

Uh, I am going a lobster-roll taco.

Yum. OK.

So, I'm gonna try something I've never done before

and try to make the taco shell out of the rice paper.

Right. How are you going to do it?

In the deep fryer and holding two tongs.

Like, hold it like that... Yeah.

..so it creates the shell... Yeah.

..and then hope for the best. OK.

Look at me. Yep.

Wink at me if it works.

Can I half wink?

Oh, God!

Just allow yourself some time to go wrong.

I think great advice from the expert.

You've got this. OK.

You've got this. Good luck.

Thanks, guys.

Yeah, I'm left a little bit uneasy.

It sounds like making these taco shells

out of rice paper

may be a little more difficult than I first thought.

A little bit nervous.

I just need to get all my pickling stuff done,

and then I can move on to my lobster.

And I just want to leave as much time

for those shells as I can

because they're kind of the star of the show.

So if I don't get those right,

then my dish kind of falls flat on its arse.

Ooh.

LUKE: Oh, no, the red hands! GRACE: Oh, Luke! (LAUGHS)

Stay back! (LAUGHS)

You've got a red dress. It's alright.

Yeah, I wore the right colour.

Today, I'm gonna do kind of a savoury beetroot tarte Tatin

with a burrata on top.

That looks awesome, Pat.

Hell, yeah.

PAT: Today I'm using the gochujang,

and I'm making a play on an Irish spice bag.

So, it's going to be the salt and pepper chips

put together with a red duck curry sauce

and a gochujang pineapple sweet-and-sour sauce

and a gochujang-glazed duck breast.

I've decided to make a Filipino dish called palabok.

And basically, I'm going to use the rice paper

to make the noodles on the bottom,

and then to make a chicharron on top.

Chicharron is basically kind of like a pork crackle

that's deep-fried.

But, of course, I'm gonna try to replicate that

with the rice paper.

I'm gonna make a kadaifi sandwich

with a couple of pistachio elements,

sort of a Middle Eastern-y kind of vibe.

I'm going to be doing gochujang buffalo wings today,

with some celery kimchi on the side.

Yeah, it's a pretty quick kimchi,

kind of almost like a quick pickle.

And then a ranch of some sort.

It's elimination day,

so I'm doing something that I know I can do well.

It shouldn't put me on the bottom.

It is smelling amazing in here, and so much going on.

I am really loving the sound of Alyona's dish.

She's got an avocado and sour cream ice-cream.

Oh! I know!

And then the pistachio is going on top as a crumb

for a crunch texture.

Right. So why avocado and sour cream?

She comes from an Eastern European background,

so she loves her sour cream. OTHERS: Mmm.

But I think she's kind of...

I actually...

In mid-thought, I'm now worried.

Yeah. I was like, "I don't get it."

Because there's a lot of fat in that.

Yeah.

Could be great. Could be a disaster.

And that's why I'm loving it.

I'm really excited about Dot.

She's doing a rice-paper roll

that she's going to squish minced prawns in between

and then pan-fry it. Yep.

So, like prawn toast but with rice paper.

Yeah. And then she's serving it in a san choy bao.

It's so funny... Ooh! Crunchy-crunch.

So funny. Like, a lot of these techniques

I'd never heard of before.

And then, like, Miss Viral over here, is like,

"Oh, yeah, I've seen that."

We are itching for some delicious food.

You've only got 45 minutes to go.

Woo!

A push.

Beautiful. Amazing.

You're so clean down here, ladies.

Oh. Oh, just as I said that.

I know, I know.

It's OK.

ALITA: What I'm doing now

is just preparing the dumpling filling.

I want that filling for my dumpling lasagne

to be a really big flavour bomb.

I'm taking those Chinese flavours

and some of those Italian flavours that I know can mesh.

There's a bit of cumin, ginger, onion,

the garlic, got rosemary in there,

celery, porcini mushrooms and fennel seeds.

It sounds so weird,

but I think I'm going to give them something

that they definitely haven't seen before.

What is happening?

Alita, what's in there?

Um, a bunch of stuff.

You gonna taste your filling?

No.

No? No, 'cause it's raw beef, so...

Yeah.

Alita is such an amazing, like, confident cook,

and she's feeling really good.

She's really, like, gunning for this top spot.

What the hell is happening?

Wait, why do you have cheese on your bench?

You just wait, baby!

(LAUGHS)

(LAUGHS) Are you about to do something weird?

I just can't come to any conclusions in my head

as to what she's doing

in terms of flavour combinations.

I start getting in the first dumpling filling layer,

then I get in the dumpling pastry layer,

meat layer, and then I do another layer of pastry.

Let's hope this dish can go viral.

Let's see where we land.

Vinnie. Andy.

How are we? Meet Victoria. Hello. Nice to meet you.

VICTORIA: Hello. I already know what you're using.

Yes, yes. Yes.

I can see a bit of gochujang. Yes, yes.

What are you gonna make?

Today, I'm making a pork sandwich

with a gochujang barbecue sauce.

I've got some focaccia bread that I'm making.

Just a quick one. He can cook bread.

Oh, I'm excited for that.

I'm working on my gochujang barbecue sauce right now.

So the first thing you taste when you bite into this

is gochujang barbecue sauce.

Perfect. Yeah.

You getting to know Vinnie,

he actually wants to open a panini shop so...

Yes. Oh, I'll be there.

Is this one going to make the menu or what?

If this works out, it'll definitely be on the menu.

I think, if this dish works out,

you'll be one step closer to your dream.

Yeah.

But you may also be in with a shot at top dish,

so a bit to play for.

That would be good. That would be very good.

That's what I'm going for.

Well, good luck, mate. Thank you.

Good luck. Thank you.

Andy says my dish could be a top dish contender

and I feel amazing about that.

But as I look at the clock,

I realise I don't actually have as much time as I thought.

(QUIETLY) OK...

I know I need to get my focaccia in the oven now.

I've cooked my focaccia in 20 minutes before

with ten minutes to let it rest.

There's a big risk

that it's not going to have enough time to cook.

And when something goes wrong on a black-apron day,

it's not ever good news.

Time is slipping away!

You only have 20 minutes to go!

(CHUCKLES) Ow! It's so hot.

Come on! Oh, no!

(LAUGHS) It's really tight.

Crank it.

So, I'm just going to focus on my prawn crackers,

getting them crispy.

I've got my prawns, my ginger, herbs, spring onions.

I want to make it as thin as possible along all the sides

because then the prawn will cook evenly.

Alright, wish me luck. I've never used a fryer.

There is such a risk using a new piece of equipment

in a black-apron day.

Am I a little bit nuts? Maybe.

But today I'm featuring rice paper,

but rice paper is kind of flavourless,

so it's going to have to be a hero in a textural element.

Just doing a tester.

Don't press it too hard, yeah? Don't push too hard.

So I'm going to brave it today.

(CRUNCHES)

Ooh, that's good.

Perfect.

Wow, Dot, that looks so trendy.

That is so hashtag viral, Dot.

(LAUGHS)

This dish is coming together.

ALYONA: Come on.

I think today I'm really trusting myself

and really pushing myself not to play safe.

So I'm fully committed

to my sour cream and avocado ice-cream.

Everything's coming together really nicely.

I have my cherry compote ready,

my sour cream and avocado ice-cream's churning,

and now I'm making pistachio praline

and preparing to make the pistachio crumb.

Oh, and I'm making burnt white chocolate, as well.

Given the pistachio is the, you know, featured ingredient,

I feel like just one crumb

is not going to be enough for me today.

So I want to make sure the judges taste pistachios

in different kind of profiles.

I hope the judges are going to get my flavours.

Everything's on the go.

I think it's going to all come together

in the very final moments.

POH: Casper, how's it going? CASPER: Yeah, I'm doing good.

VICTORIA: You're doing fried chicken.

I am. I'm in my zone, you know. Yeah.

How many are you making? Plenty.

I've got six in there at the moment. Er...

So I can have a couple? Yeah.

For myself. OK. I'm not sharing.

OK.

OK, so my pork for the sandwich,

it's just coming out of the pressure cooker.

The sauce is tasting really good.

You can definitely tell it's gochujang barbecue sauce.

It's got that sweetness,

but it's also got that real nice spiciness

from the gochujang.

Looking in the oven,

and my bread's just not browning up in the oven.

So I'm just a little bit worried about that.

Time's running out,

so I get my bread out of the oven.

It's still not coloured the way I want it to.

And it's just dawned on me

that, like, I've made this way too big.

And ideally,

I'd like to rest my focaccia for about ten minutes,

but I don't have that time.

I don't know if I'll be able to really use it.

In the back of my head,

I know I need to come up with a plan B.

It's still a bit soft in the middle,

and I don't really want to have to go home off bread.

The most obvious plan B

is use pre-made bread from the pantry.

Being the panini guy and the bread guy,

I'm not feeling great at all

that I didn't get my bread done.

But I'm still hopeful that the flavour of the gochujang

and the flavour of the pork is enough

to actually meet the brief and get me through.

PETRO: I have got my lobster out.

At the moment I'm just waiting

for these crispy shallots to crispen up.

I've got most of my garnishes for my lobster taco

all ready to go.

So I'm pretty happy with myself.

Petro, are you happy with it?

Well, it's coming out of the shell,

so that's a good sign.

But I can't get caught up in that for too long

'cause I have got to get on to these taco shells.

I've left it a little bit fine.

I don't have as much time as I thought I would.

You've got this.

Yeah, hold it.

I'm testing my rice paper in the deep-fryer,

and it doesn't seem to be puffing and bubbling up

like I thought it would.

How are they looking?

Yeah, it's not working.

Damn.

It's not really frying.

What is going on?

And so, already,

I'm starting to feel a little bit nervous here.

Maybe my oil's not quite hot enough.

The taco shells are the star of my dish.

So if that doesn't work,

then I've really got nothing to plate up.

No room for panicking. No time.

Yeah.

My gut is telling me I've just got to do a full pivot here

and try to get something over the line.

So now I'm just wracking my brain, thinking,

"What can I do with Victoria's other ingredients?"

I do not want to give up now. It's black-apron day.

I do not want to be going home, so I'm going to make this work.

Your spot in the competition is on the line!

Five minutes to go!

Five minutes! Go, guys! Go, go, go, go, go!

Taste! Taste! Season, season, season!

Crispy. (CHUCKLES) Super-duper crispy.

I just have to do the second cook of my chips -

they're nearly done with their first run -

and then just plate everything up.

I'm pretty well on track. Make sure that duck's perfect.

I'm currently frying out my little fake chicharron,

so hopefully will finish in time.

Happy, feeling good.

Got my gochujang buffalo wings-style glaze

on the chicken, there.

And I've also got the kimchi on the side

and a bit of ranch just to cool everything down.

PETRO: Cucumbers are going to add the freshness to the dish

and that crunch.

It's just, like, the last few little pieces coming together.

I just want to taste all of it and then see how we go.

Tasting all the elements together,

my biscuity pistachio crumb and sour cherries,

and my ice-cream.

Mmm. Mm!

I'm really happy with the dish.

It's really nicely balanced.

There's just a little touch of avocado

and sour cream to it.

And the little tartness of the cherry

kind of brings it all home.

I feel like I'm trusting myself with flavours,

and that makes it really special.

Like, I'm really having fun today.

ALITA: Alright, I'm going to bite the bullet

and take these out and just pray that they're cooked.

'Cause that's all I can do right now.

I know I can't leave the lasagnes in there

for any longer,

because I need to let them cool a little bit

before I put on that burrata.

Get it on the plate. There's one minute to go.

GRACE: Whoo! One minute! Let's go guys! (CLAPS)

At this point,

I know that these ramekins are too hot,

but I'm running out of time,

so I have to get that burrata on my dumpling lasagnes.

(GASPS)

So I stick that baby burrata on the ramekin.

It's looking nice and juicy,

and I'm happy with how juicy it is.

So, I just have to hope that it doesn't split

'cause it's going to melt and make it really soggy.

This is it!

JUDGES: Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six,

five, four,

three, two,

one!

Oh, my God.

(BOTH LAUGH)

Whoo-o-o-o-o!

Oh, my gosh. It was a bit hectic, hey?

Well done, mate.

Nice work, guys! Well done! (CLAPS)

DOT: It went good. I'm happy with what I've got.

It's fresh, it's crunchy, vibrant.

(GASPS) Stop.

I'm looking around

and there's a lot of, like, restaurant-quality dishes.

I feel like I went more, like, viral trendy, so...

But I want to sit down and eat this,

so, you know, hopefully gets me through.

No!

My burratas split.

Victoria Minell is in the house and she brought with her

five of her favourite viral ingredients.

You had to choose one and make a dish with it.

Let's see how you went.

ANDY: The first dish we'd like to taste belongs to...

..Dot.

GRACE: Go, Dot!

Go, Dot.

Oh, look. Hi, guys. (GROANS NERVOUSLY)

Ooh. Little feast.

Righto, Dot. What's going on?

Well, today I have done the rice paper.

So I made a bit of a smashed prawn between there

with ginger, herbs.

And I'm visualising it to be like a lettuce cup

with a lovely tamarind sauce.

Nice.

I'm, like, dying to dig in. Me too.

How do we do it? Here you go, Andy.

Does the cracker go on the lettuce?

Yeah. Yeah, right.

And then lots of herbs.

And then get your tamarind chutney.

Oh, Dot!

You've done it again.

(JEAN-CHRISTOPHE CHUCKLES) That is so, so tasty.

Well done!

Thank you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Dynamite.

Lights out. Flavour, flavour, flavour.

And then I love all the fresh herbs.

But the star is obviously that little rice-paper smash thing

that you've got going on.

It's crispy,

the prawns are still cooked really, really well,

and you've just got, like, layers upon layers of spice,

citrus punch, herbs.

It's all happening for me, Dot.

Dot, this dish makes me so happy.

And, you know, I think a lot of people

lean into, like, sweetness in the chutneys.

And you've kind of really been restrained with that,

so the sweetness of the prawns really comes through.

It's just a delight.

Oh, good.

You are definitely speaking my language with this dish.

I think it was a great use of rice paper.

I think it was absolutely delicious.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Well done.

Thank you.

Go, Dot, go!

Well done. Beautiful work. Thank you. Thank you.

Miin, you're next.

MIIN: I made a gochujang charred cabbage

with mushrooms and a nori pangrattato.

VICTORIA: I love that you've chosen to hero a vegetable,

which is definitely a trend I'm starting to see.

I'm obsessed with the gochujang sauce you've made.

I think you've hero-ed the ingredient perfectly.

Next up...

..Pat.

Oh, wow.

Oh, that looks so good. Look at that.

That looks epic.

PAT: I've made a play on an Irish spice bag.

I've got the salt and pepper chips,

gochujang glaze, with a pan-seared duck breast,

a gochujang and pineapple sweet-and-sour sauce,

and a Thai red curry sauce.

SOFIA: Pat, I love the high-low thing

that's happening on the plate, here.

This is the kind of thing

you'd see, like, a dude foodie-chef plate up

because it's got so much technique in it.

And I reckon these are some of the best chips

that I've had in this kitchen.

Annabel.

POH: Very cute.

ANNABEL: I have done

a pistachio and carrot cake ice-cream sundae.

I think it's just such a grown-up ice-cream.

Yeah.

I love how hard you've hit us with the spices

that go in carrot cake.

Hannah.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Wow, look at that.

HANNAH: Dubai-loaded cookie with a pistachio ice-cream.

Well, I can only say every single bite...

..is a joy.

Oh, good.

Olaolu!

OLAOLU: I've made pistachio frangipane pancakes

with berry compote,

and a little toasted honey pistachio liqueur syrup.

VICTORIA: The pancakes were delicious.

It, you know, looked beautiful, it looked viral.

Next up, it's Jack.

Oh, wow. Oh, wow.

Today I've done a leek mosaic with pistachios.

Aesthetic, visual, technique.

Well done. Superbly done.

Thank you, Chef.

Next up...

..Vinnie.

VINNIE: I'm taking my sandwich up to the judges and...

..I'm kind of dreading it...

..to be honest.

I'm not really proud of what I have on my plate.

I'm definitely very, very worried

about my place in the competition today.

Vinnie, what have you made?

So, I've made a pork braised in gochujang

with a gochujang barbecue sauce sandwich.

Nice. Um, how'd it go for you?

Um...

I'm a little bit disappointed in myself, to be honest.

I just feel like I've let youse down.

I had a nice focaccia that was baking in the oven

that I made for this,

but, um, it just wasn't cooking in time.

I think I just made it too big.

The bread's from the pantry?

Yes.

OK. I hope this just rockets us with flavour.

Divvy it up.

OK. (CLEARS THROAT)

Pork's cooked really nicely.

And your gochujang barbecue sauce is delicious.

But that's really all I got. Pork and sauce.

That's all I've got to go off

to judge your place in the competition.

You, of all people, know

that if you're going to make a sandwich in this kitchen,

in 75 minutes, you need to make the bread.

Yep.

You're our sandwich guy.

Visually,

it kind of looked a little bit like a sloppy Joe to me.

The next time, if you're making bread -

yeah - just make it small.

Yeah. Thank you.

(DULL APPLAUSE)

It doesn't feel great

that my place in the competition

has come down to pork and sauce.

It's a bit worrying. It's very worrying.

OK. Next, Alyona, please.

(CHEERING)

ALYONA: I'm excited to hear the judges' feedback

because it's quite an interesting combination

of flavours in my ice-cream.

(APPLAUSE)

Oh, I see. Ahh.

Oh.

Looks interesting. Mm.

Alyona, what have you made?

I used pistachios, and I made

avocado and sour cream ice-cream

with layered pistachio crunch

and some sour cherry coulis.

OK, let's have a taste.

Alyona...

..it's mind-blowing.

(GASPS)

It's spot-on.

It does work.

You can get the nuttiness of your pistachio.

I mean, introducing avocado -

it's rich, it's tasty.

It's, um, addictive.

So I am super satisfied.

Thank you. Thank you.

I'm not going to lie.

I was a little bit nervous when I heard you were making

an avocado and sour cream ice-cream -

'cause it is my favourite dip, guacamole -

but that is delicious.

So well done.

SOFIA: There's this lovely tang to your ice-cream,

but not at the expense of the richness.

It's all just the perfect mouthful.

Flawless.

Thank you.

Oh, my gosh. Like, I am so happy.

Oh, my God. Well done.

Maybe I finally deserve to be here.

Well done.

Thank you. Oh, my goodness. Good job.

Did you finish the ice-cream?

Yeah. He did.

(GROANS) You're next, Lydia.

LYDIA: I made a kadaifi sandwich

filled with a pistachio and ricotta cream.

(CRUNCHING)

It's crunchy, it's full of pistachio-ness.

Delicious. Thank you.

Casper.

CASPER: Gochujang buffalo wings

with a celery kimchi and a nori ranch.

Powerful, balanced, delicious.

I think you've done really well today.

Thank you.

Emily.

EMILY: I've made you a Filipino dish called palabok.

I've used the rice paper

to make the noodles on the bottom

and chicharron on top.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Emily, I admire you

for introducing these two ways of rice paper today.

So I believe you have a true talent for flavours.

Luke.

LUKE: I've made a beetroot tarte Tatin

with a burrata on top.

Luke...

..it's fantastic.

Aaron. (APPLAUSE)

AARON: A cheat's gochujang tonkotsu ramen.

Everything, every element, is delicious.

I think the broth is beautiful.

(APPLAUSE)

The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Petro.

GRACE: Go, Petro!

PETRO: I promised lobster tacos.

And now I'm going to be serving up cucumber salad.

This is the biggest pivot I've had to do

in this competition,

and it's on black-apron day,

so I'm really scared.

Petro, what have you made us?

I made a cucumber salad with lobster

that's got a yuzu and fish sauce mayonnaise.

(WHISPERS) Where's the tacos?

Was this the dish you intended to make?

No. No, it's not.

I wanted to make a taco shell out of the rice paper,

but it just wasn't working.

Hopefully, it still tastes OK.

Let's find out.

I really wish the taco worked.

I think there's different ways that you could have used it,

even if it didn't work.

You could have wrapped it into a bit of a roll.

But otherwise, I think the flavours are great.

I love the crispy onions on top and the salmon pearls, as well.

POH: Yeah, Petro,

I think I really admire that you tried to pivot,

but I think if you were going to use the cucumber,

you just needed to make it a little bit more ceremonious.

So you could have, like, sliced it

and layered it in a sheet,

and then maybe rolled the lobster filling in it.

Crossing my fingers that the good amount of flavour

and texture that you've got going on

in a very simple salad may get you through.

Thanks.

I knew, I knew. Yeah, when it came out.

We'd like to taste your dish next, Alita.

ALITA: Because the burrata has started to melt out

from the bottom,

I can see that it's oozing out a little bit,

so I'm a bit worried about that,

but there's nothing I can do now.

I just have to hope that the flavours stack up.

Let's just hope I can keep myself out of elimination.

POH: Tell us what you've made, Alita,

and what ingredient did you feature?

ALITA: I've made you a dumpling lasagne.

Oh.

With burrata.

OK. Alright, let's dive in.

SOFIA: Oh, yeah. I see the layers. Whoops.

ANDY: Alita...

..the dumpling skins, well, you did a great job.

It's just the burrata.

Putting it on hot, all of the cream

has basically just drenched into...

Yeah. ..the dumpling lasagne.

And then the meat has just gone like wet meat loaf.

Mm.

I know the dumpling lasagne has gone viral,

but I think you've kind of mixed two cuisines here

that don't really mesh in a ramekin.

So I think you kind of missed an opportunity

if you were going to use the burrata.

If it was kind of displayed with a bit of a pool like that

and kind of exploit it,

and then pop the burrata on top,

it could have been a little bit more creative.

I think you've got too many ideas going on in there.

To hybridise so many things,

and then the burrata on top is just...

It's just a wrong fit for the flavour profile.

Um...

Yeah, I think you're in trouble today.

Thank you. Thanks, guys. Thanks.

I'm actually feeling pretty embarrassed...

..and I am absolutely devastated.

I'm in really deep trouble today.

Today we're joined by the incredible Victoria Minell,

and we asked you to feature

one of her favourite viral ingredients

that are all over social media.

There may be an elimination,

but we weren't just looking for a bottom dish to send home.

We were also looking for a top dish

to fast-track into the immunity challenge.

SOFIA: The top dish was hard to pick

because it was a great day in the kitchen

for many of you.

But the one that impressed us the most...

..belonged to...

..Alyona!

(CHEERING)

Your sophisticated combination of flavours

beautifully complemented your chosen ingredient -

pistachio.

ALYONA: Oh, my gosh. This is crazy.

This is not what I thought was going to happen

when I walked into this kitchen this morning.

Oh, my gosh. I'm going to cry.

Oh, my gosh. Thank you.

I think this cook really showed me

that when I commit to the idea and when I trust my flavours,

I can create magic.

Congratulations. You can rest easy.

You've been fast-tracked to the immunity challenge

at the end of the week.

Thank you.

Sadly, there were a couple of dishes that fell short.

If I call your name, please step forward.

Alita.

Vinnie.

Each of you put something on the plate

that had potential.

But each of your dishes had critical flaws.

Unfortunately, there were too many in yours...

..Alita.

Alita, you truly have talent.

What did you enjoy the most about your time with us?

I loved the opportunity to push myself.

And to see how good of a cook I really can be.

Sadly, it's time to say goodbye.

I'm going to miss this place so much.

I'm going to miss you.

I'm feeling content

with everything that I've done so far.

I'm really proud of myself and I'm going to keep cooking.

Whoo! Yeah!

And I just want to keep exploring

this creative side of me that I love so much.

(APPLAUSE)

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night... (CHEERING)

..their first service challenge.

You have some seriously hungry diners out here!

Oh, no. Here we go!

I've never really cooked for a lot of people before.

Can their pop-ups feed the masses...

It's just chaos.

We're all running around like headless chickens.

..with something tasty...

I can taste that in my eyeballs.

..viral...

There are so many people queuing for the stalls.

..and ready?

Oh, lo-lo-lo-lo.

Dot, say something.

We've got people to serve

and we've got nothing to serve them.

Captions by Red Bee Media