Original subtitles

ANNABEL: In you go, lads.

In you go.

VINNIE: What's going on here? LUKE: Ooh!

What's that?

Heat week, walking into the MasterChef kitchen,

and at the front of the room

is a big glass box

filled with smoke.

I'm thinking this is going to be something very hot.

Ooh!

Morning, everybody.

CASPER: Good luck guys. Thanks, Caspy.

Let's go.

Morning, all. CONTESTANTS: Morning.

Heat week! Uff!

It erupted yesterday,

and it was a scorcher, right?

Every day is a chance to rise above the rest.

Top dish earning immunity for the whole week.

Casper won the spicy mystery box challenge yesterday,

and he has guaranteed himself another week in the competition.

AARON: Spicy.

Whoever gets top dish today, they'll join Casper...

..be one step closer to MasterChef glory.

Everyone else stays in the danger zone...

..heading towards the elimination

at the end of the week.

Outside, the MasterChef garden boasts some of the most

beautiful fresh fruit,

veg, herbs and spices.

Today, we've selected an ingredient from our garden

that we want to celebrate.

It's...

..chillis!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Chilli! Chilli!

Mmm, chilli.

I love spicy food. Malaysians love spicy flavours.

So, yeah, within my ballpark.

I like chilli.

VINNIE: Chillies, I love chillies.

I absolutely love using chillies in a lot of my dishes.

I am told that I use too much chillies,

so hopefully I can actually do well with this challenge.

There's four types of fresh chillies

growing in our garden -

birdseye,

jalapeno,

red cayenne

and green cayenne.

Each variety has its own unique flavour and characteristics,

so make sure you taste them -

very, very important.

Use the heat from the chillies to add dimension to your dish.

But don't forget, while some are mild,

some others will pack a punch.

Guys, you've got 60 minutes

to cook a dish...

..celebrating a least one of those four chillies.

OK, guys? CONTESTANTS: Yeah.

Yes? CONTESTANTS: Yes, Chef.

Your 60 minutes start now!

Come on!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Let's go, guys.

ANNABEL: What happened to ladies first?

(LAUGHTER)

VINNIE: Going to fall down the stairs.

Get a basket. Make way!

PETRO: I've got my eye only on one chilli,

and that's the red cayenne.

I really love the flavour.

We are raiding these plants.

It's actually very floral,

and it's got a light amount of heat.

I think it's gonna pair really well with what I have in mind.

That's probably enough, but I'll just get a bit more.

I'm feeling pretty excited for this challenge.

I feel like I can muster up a unique idea,

something creative.

(IN BRITISH ACCENT) Should I take a branch?

I do wear a chilli around my neck.

It is a...

Kind of like a good luck thing in, like, Sicily

and stuff like that.

Alright. See you guys.

He's gone rogue, guys.

Hopefully luck is on my side today,

and I can pull out something crazy.

ANNABEL: Oh, what bench is free? Dammit!

I am loving the energy in the room.

I think it's related to the fact that they've got 60 minutes.

I feel like it wakes them up.

And I think, today, they're suddenly realising

it is a wide-open cook.

We need to have fun. ANDY: Yep.

Today is just 100% about yummy food, using chilli.

Yeah. And it's just setting them up

for success, right? Yeah.

When have you had a dish that really does feature chilli

and gone, "Oh, I wish it had a bit more flavour"?

Like, they've got the key ingredient here.

They can match it with sweetness, with sourness,

with bitterness - like, it's all there.

It's all hidden inside the chilli.

Yeah. But what is interesting

is, here, in the MasterChef kitchen,

there is no limits.

So, a day like today, where you can express yourself,

I think these little ingredients there,

all of them, are so versatile,

and I think we're going to have so much to enjoy.

I agree.

ANNABEL: It's weird only having one person on the bench

because, like, you've got no friends to talk to.

(LAUGHS) You guys are just hovering.

Hey, Annabel. Hi, Poh.

So, tell us what you're making.

I'm going to do a butterflied

King George whiting on the hibachi...

..and then I'm going to make, like, a Thai-inspired

red curry sauce,

and then do some pipis in that as well.

And then, serve it on the plate, like, pipis, barbecued whiting.

That's how I would like to eat chilli.

Yeah, I love it. OK.

I think it's solid. Yeah.

I think just, the hibachi -

that's going to be a little pressure point for you.

Yes. And the filleting.

Yes.

So making sure there is no bonesies.

No bonesies. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm, like, fairly confident with, like, fish.

Yeah. I love butterflying things so...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You go into the zone. Yeah.

I love this. I think you're on a good path. Good luck.

Thank you.

Mm!

Spicy, Annabel?

I don't think raw curry paste is designed to be eaten.

(LAUGHS)

It's probably not the most traditional

Thai red curry paste I'm making today.

I don't want this to be, like, a curry.

This is, like, a curry sauce.

I don't want to overpower

the flavour of the fish or the pipis.

So, I want to be fairly restrained in my level of spice

and the aromats as well,

but I want you to be able to taste

all of those delicious ingredients.

Instead of just being, like, smack-in-your-face hot,

be like, "This is yummy."

It's smelling good, Annabel.

PAT: Heat week, feeling pretty good.

You know, I'm not scared of chillies.

Today, I'll be using three varieties in my dish.

So, the cayennes, the jalapenos and the bird's eyes.

And today, I'll be cooking patatas bravas,

a potato and saffron hash,

which will be sitting on a fiery tomato sauce,

a smoked garlic aioli.

There'll be an anchovy on top

and some pickled chillies as well.

The first thing I need to get onto

is the first stage of the potato hash.

Ha-ha! Look at that.

Patatas bravas is a tapas meal,

the type of food I love to eat.

It's, like, rich, indulgent, crunchy, deep-fried.

You wouldn't want to have too many of them.

That's why it's designed as a one-bite dish.

But with a cold beer, mate, you could probably smash a few.

Get up on that gantry and into the top six

is the target today.

So, we've got to get a good dish up first and see how we go.

LUKE: Let's go, brother. Here we go.

Get it, big dog.

Two chillies I'm choosing today are the cayenne

and the bird's eyes.

I know that I need to taste these chillies

to work out how kind of spicy they are.

Handling chillies!

Goodness me.

But in the back of my mind,

I've just got flashbacks to me eating

a birdseye chilli as a kid and blowing my head off.

And I just can't force myself to do it.

Today, I'm relying on a little bit of memory,

inspired by the birdseye chilli.

I'm going to use some of the skills I've learned

from the competition so far.

Well, the technique I learned from Josh Niland -

reverse butterflied snapper.

That is something I would have had no idea

how to do before MasterChef.

I'm then going to deep-fry it

and put on, like, a Thai-style dressing,

serve it with a som tam,

which is, like, a Thai kind of salad,

and then just some nice jasmine rice.

The dream is that when the judges eat the dish,

they get the flavour of the fish,

then they get that really nice spice from the sauce.

But it doesn't matter how good this fish tastes.

If I leave just one bone in this fish,

I'm completely cooked.

Atta girl.

I really want to make sure I take my time

and get it right and really nail it.

AARON: The judges say they want flavour, and I'm leaning

into my Malaysian flavours and heritage, and I'm going

with a Malaysian-style chilli crab.

So, my memories of chilli crab is always having it in Malaysia.

My grandpa knew a lot of fishermen,

and they would bring in these massive foam boxes

of seafood to our house,

and my grandma would make the most amazing curry crab.

And it was spicy. It was really spicy.

Plan for the crab is just to have it as is.

So, like, serve it in the shells.

It's, like... It's a real, like, hands-on,

get in there, real messy

kind of...kind of way to eat, and I love it.

Like, you know, it's real quintessential,

like, Malaysian food.

You know, you get around a big table, family style,

everyone grabs a crab,

they're all wearing bibs and everything.

They're, like, bashing away and, like, taking out the meat.

It's a whole affair, so I really love the dish.

And what better day to bring it up than today,

to celebrate chilli?

The main thing I have to nail

is balance of heat, acidity and sweetness in the sauce.

But also, it's very easy to overcook the crab meat.

There's a lot riding on this cook

because I really want to transport the judges

to my memories, to my nostalgia,

to bring them to that space where they're really

getting stuck into the dish and, like, really enjoying it,

but also want to honour the memory of my grandparents,

my heritage.

And I really want to do this dish justice.

VINNIE: Alright.

Feeling pretty excited to make a dish using one

of the chillies from the MasterChef garden.

My first introduction to chillies

was my nonna and nonno's house.

I was probably three or four years old,

and I remember them saying to me, "Do not touch this bush.

"It is spicy."

And I said, "OK, no worries."

And obviously, the first thing I did

was touch the chillies and put them directly

into my mouth, so... (LAUGHS)

Right.

..when I think of chillies

and spicy heat in Italy,

my first thought goes to nduja,

which is, like, a spicy, spreadable salami.

CASPER: Vinnie, that is scary. Why?

That's moving so quick.

Normally, to make nduja, it's a long process.

You need weeks to do it at home.

But today, I'm going to find some short cuts

to pull it off and get the same flavours

that you would get from nduja in under an hour.

You've all started strong. Keep it going.

45 minutes to go!

(APPLAUSE) Come on guys, let's push.

Vinnie. Andy.

Chilli day - you must be happy.

Yes, I am, I am. Yeah?

I'm making a fresh nduja.

OK. Spicy, spreadable salami. Yeah.

Instead of curing it, it's going to be all fresh.

So, I've made, like, an nduja paste,

all the same flavours.

I'm gonna turn that into a sauce with the pork.

I'm gonna make a glaze with the leftover paste,

with some prawns.

Cook them on the hibachi.

And then, like, a zucchini salad on the side.

Right. OK, mate,

it really does come down to this nduja, right?

Yeah. You know, that's the...

That's the celebration. ..the hero.

And I assume that this is kind of your mince mix here.

Yes. Yeah.

Are you happy with the...how coarse it is?

I'll probably chop it up again.

I just wanted to get onto everything else

and get all the pork marinated in that paste.

I'm going to get my pickles in now.

My glaze is basically done.

Peel those prawns, put them in, hibachi - off we go.

(CHUCKLES)

Petro!

Oh, yes?

Ah, yeah, it's smelling pretty good.

Very... Smelling very chilli-like.

Uh, I'm gonna add in a pinch of salt and finish it off.

And then, I'll be straining this

and putting it into the blast freezer.

I want to do something really creative today.

I feel like, now, there's not many of us left,

and you have to do whatever you can to stand out

from the pack because everyone is such a good cook.

Petro, what's going on here?

I'm doing dessert.

In a chilli challenge? Yes, in a chilli challenge.

That is bold. It's a bold move.

I think it's a good chance to push myself.

I don't think anyone else is doing dessert.

No.

So, I'm making a chilli ice-cream,

which has a bit of lime zest and a touch of vanilla.

Yep. OK.

I'm making a fresh granita with chilli, lime juice,

lime zest, vanilla... Which chilli?

Long red cayenne. Yep, OK.

Real nice fruity notes.

And I'm doing

a toasted coconut tapioca pudding.

I want to add a fruit element, so I got pears,

I got pineapple,

and I'm going to char some off and see which one works best.

OK, cool.

Definitely a good way to stand out.

Get it done. You got this. Alrighty. Thank you, Sofia.

I am the most pumped, out of all you guys,

because I feel like this has done is exactly

what we thought it would - clear ideas, concise ideas,

flavour at the forefront.

I got Vinnie. He's going all out and making his own nduja,

which he's going to put over prawns.

Wow. Yeah, so he's done it at home

a heap of times.

Probably hasn't done it in 60 minutes,

but he's still pretty confident.

It's just about that nduja, you know?

Like, for me, what will the texture be like?

He's used a hand-cut method rather than a mince.

It's normally a spreadable-type consistency.

So... Has he gone Dim Sim Lim?

Sort of. Yeah.

Just Dim Sim.

One - one hand, no Lim. (CHUCKLES)

And then, Pat. Pat's got a great idea.

He wants to create, like, a potato finger-type thing.

Oh, I love this.

A lot of process into it.

The chilli element

is a roasted chilli and tomato...

It's a hot sauce.

Annabel. Hey.

She's doing a red curry sauce,

butterflied whiting, and gonna roast some pipis,

all on the...on the hibachi.

Solid idea.

I think she sort of looks dialled-in,

and I think she's going to be good.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Now, Aaron, mud crab Malaysian style.

Yeah. Oh!

I know! I can see...

Can you imagine how much fun we're gonna be having

if we're all, like, fighting over the last claw of...

Bring out the bibs. Yeah, yeah.

Bring out the bibs. Exactly.

How are you supposed to mop the sauce?

Like this. (MIMICS SLURPING)

The chilli.

Oh, yeah. (LAUGHS) I can see that already.

So, Luke is doing a whole fried snapper,

and you can see he's nailing all the bones, one by one.

And he's doing a som tam.

Som... You som tam, you lose some.

Som tam. Palm sugar,

fish sauce, chilli, lime... Yes! Thank you.

Yeah. And lots of chilli.

Yes.

To fillet my fish

for my Thai-style crispy snapper,

I'm using a reverse butterfly technique.

Can't tell if that's a bone I can take out or not.

But it's quite difficult to get all these pin bones out.

Far out.

It is taking a lot longer than I thought.

ANNABEL: Filleting fish is so fun.

I'm working on my fish

for my butterflied King George whiting

on the hibachi.

Thank you, Chef.

I feel like maybe this is why I found myself

working in medicine.

It's because I just like cutting things,

in a non, you know, weird way.

Bone free! I'm pretty sure.

That's one thing I actually trust myself to do,

is to get bones out of a fish.

I think it's like operating.

I just use...imagine them as, like, little patients at work.

So, there's no room for error there,

so there will be no error here as well.

My fish is filleted. I'm still nursing my paste.

I feel like I'm in a good position.

I get that salt on the skin,

and I get it in the fridge so that that skin can dry out

and go, like, really crispy once it's cooked over the charcoal.

AARON: 30 minutes ago.

Chilli crab sauce is coming along nicely.

It's bubbling away and slowly reducing.

I'm really liking where the flavour is at,

but I think it does need a hit more chilli.

Aaron.

Chef, how are you? Ooh, lovely crabs!

(CRAB SHELL SNAPS)

Oh! Yeah.

This is one of my favourites.

Is it? One of mine too.

So, I can see you've got your shells.

The freshness of the produce is always top.

Yeah, it's beautiful. Stunning.

So, what's going to make

your sauce get the best of your crab?

So, it's just layering the heat

and making sure that it's not overly spicy.

I want to use the innards of the crab

to give it a bit of funk.

And then, I'm going to cook the crab in the sauce as well.

You're going to serve it with the shells...

Shell on, yeah.

Are you going to break them up a little bit?

Yes. I'm going to use a mallet and just lightly crack them

so the sauce can go inside.

(WHISTLES) Yeah.

So, it's going to be sticky fingers?

Yeah! It's going to be lots of messy fingers today.

So, there's going to be a lot of licking fingers too.

Yeah. (LAUGHS) Well done, mate.

I can't wait to taste your food. Thank you, Chef.

Excellent.

Crab's coming apart easily.

You know, I'm just there, breaking it all down

and cracking the shells to make sure

that when it's cooked,

it's accessible to get to the meat.

I'm really good at this because I eat a lot of crab.

PAT: So, now that the potatoes are fried off,

I put them into the loaf tins,

and press down with some weights in them,

and into the blast chiller.

I'm just getting on to my...

Finishing my fiery red sauce.

I've had my vegetables roasting here for a while.

So far, I have done my mayo, my potato is in, chilling.

I've got to fry that with about 15 minutes to go.

The heat's going to be coming

from that little birdseye I just added into the sauce.

I've got some hot smoked paprika,

but also the beautiful cayenne chillies

that I picked from the garden

So, they'll add spice and a bit of, like, fruity nature

to the sauce as well.

Don't go too silly with the chilli.

20 minutes to go!

LUKE: Finally, I've got my fish done.

My batter is made.

But the plan, though, is to serve the fish

with a som tam, and a...

Just nice jasmine rice.

So far, the jasmine rice is on, and that should be done.

But the som tam is not done,

and it's gonna take a lot of time to do,

so I'm really just pushing for time now.

I'm just trying to make all this curry sauce and things

so I can get the real flavour of the dish going.

To make this sauce under some serious time pressure,

I'm throwing in lemongrass, ginger, garlic, my chilli.

The plan is to make it quite spicy, and then tame it

with some kind of lime and palm sugar and fish sauce.

This dish is all about balance today, but then...

CASPER: Whoa!

What is that?

Phffff!

Far out.

Uh...now it's gonna taste like a burnt disaster.

Whoa!

What is that?

Far out.

LUKE: This sauce, it's gonna taste

like a burnt disaster.

I'm gonna start again,

but with this 60-minute cook today,

it just feels like I've been pushing so hard

that, when one element messes up,

it just has a knock-on effect.

I spent way too long filleting that fish,

which I wanted to spend a while on

because it was an element that needs

to be kind of perfect, but I think I just

could have spent a little bit too long on it,

and I'm now just playing a bit of...

I'm now playing a bit of catch-up.

I did not need that.

Luckily, I can wash these chillies.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: OK, guys,

balance is key, please.

15 minutes to go! Allez, allez!

VINNIE: I've got my prawns prepped,

my nduja glaze done.

I now need to move on to my sauce.

I start by caramelising off that nduja pork.

I realise this is kind of the most important aspect

of my whole dish.

It's the make-or-break of the flavourings of the nduja.

And I have a thought of maybe, when I serve this,

do I strain this sauce, or do I keep it more chunky

so it's easier and more pleasant to eat?

Normally, nduja is a paste,

but I went through all this effort of inventing

this fresh short cut to nduja.

I'm gonna leave it in.

The sauce is tasting good.

I think it needs a little bit of lift

and a bit more salt, but, like, I feel like

the flavours of it and the glaze with these prawns

that I made from it,

I'm really happy with it.

These prawns are looking pretty tasty to me.

The glaze on the prawns have a little bit of a hum,

but I didn't want them to be overpowered.

So, the sauce is really where it shines through.

And then, I've also got some pickled cayennes in the salad,

which give you, like, this little pop of just,

like, a quick hit of heat, and then they go away,

which is nice.

The fight for immunity is getting hot.

Ten minutes to go! Come on, everybody!

Here we go! (APPLAUSE)

Looks good.

PAT: With patatas bravas,

it is always served with a spicy tomato sauce.

Yeah, really happy. The chilli's definitely there.

It's nice and smoky.

Just want to add a bit of that sherry vinegar

to get it nice and vibrant.

Time to now fry the potato hash.

So, I'm just praying that when I get these things

in the hot oil, they don't fall apart.

Nice. That looks cool.

Yes! They're holding together. The dish is coming together.

Hopefully, the judges will like it.

At this point in the competition,

immunity is everything.

It'd be amazing to get up on the gantry,

up with Casper.

I've got all the...all the aromatics here.

To cook the crab,

I put it straight into the sauce,

and you only need to put it in there

for around about seven minutes.

The most important thing

is to really make sure that that crab is cooked perfectly.

Nothing worse than overcooked crab.

It's fibrous, gets stuck to the shells.

What you want is, like, a really juicy crab,

where the entire claw meat comes out whole,

the legs come out whole, you can dip it into that sauce.

I'm going off instinct in timing right now,

but I won't actually know

if it's perfectly cooked until the judges...

..eat it. (LAUGHS)

I've never done a King George whiting

on the hibachi before,

and it's nearly fish-cooking time.

Nearly.

I'm really happy with my curry sauce.

I'm just popping some pipis in here,

and then serve more on the plate as well.

It's hibachi time, and I need to get that skin

as dry as possible.

I have watched so many fish-hibachi disasters.

It literally ruins the whole dish.

Oh, my God.

All of the judges are just, like, standing there,

like, just, like, watching me.

Look at that. (WHISTLING)

And I'm like, "Oh God, don't mess this up."

I am just going to cook it fully,

skin-side down.

Right before the top is fully cooked,

I'm just going to take it off,

and, hopefully, that fish is cooked perfectly.

ANDY: It's time to hustle. Five minutes to go!

(APPLAUSE)

CASPER: Oh-ho-ho!

Petro, looking good.

I've still got a lot to do.

The ice-cream looks good though. Thanks, mate.

Ice-cream's done.

It tastes really good.

I'm really happy.

It's time to get onto my fruit element...

I've got to hustle.

..to add that freshness to my dish.

I've got pineapple, and I've got pear.

With everything I've got on my plate, with the chilli,

the coconut and the lime,

I am thinking maybe I should go with pineapple.

I need to get my granita.

OK, that froze better than I thought it would.

My granita, it's tasting great,

and it looks great,

but has frozen solid as a rock.

Petro, you got to hustle.

It's not good.

Really stuffed this up.

I've completely taken my eye off my pineapple,

and I'm not gonna be able to use this.

Petro, how bad?

Oh, no, it's scorched. Oh!

I've left myself no time to redo another batch.

But I have this pair.

I'm just gonna have to roll with this.

Bring us the hot stuff. Two minutes to go!

(APPLAUSE) Come on, guys, wrap it up.

LUKE: My som tam is ready, and my fish

is in the deep fryer,

but I still need to redo the sauce.

I'm really pushing for time now.

Need to make my sauce,

which is kind of the main flavour in the dish,

which I haven't even been able to do yet.

And I need to toast some peanuts.

I need to finish cooking this fish.

I need to get it all plated up.

It's, uh, kind of chaos here.

The vision for the sauce on top of the fish

was to be this super vibrant, chilli, zingy sauce

with all the good Thai flavours you like.

But it's not on the stove yet,

and the time is running down.

And that's where all the chilli flavour in this dish

is coming from.

I'm trying to work on my sauce,

but I realised I completely forgot about my fish.

It's still in the deep fryer.

It's been in there way longer than I would have liked.

There's less than a minute to go, and I'm still trying

to cook down the aromats for the sauce.

It's no longer a sauce -

it's going to be more like a sambal because it's very dry.

OK, guys, time's up in ten...

I'm starting to hear the judges count down...

JUDGES: ..nine...

..and I'm still adding Thai basil.

..eight,

seven...

..six,

five,

four,

three,

two...

..one!

That's it, everybody!

(APPLAUSE)

VINNIE: Oh, my God!

You're too good.

Uh...yeah.

Damn. Just ran out of time.

Yeah, pretty annoyed after that one.

ANNABEL: Putting that fish on the hibachi

with all four judges standing there was, like, scary.

I'm happy, and I think the pipis

are, like, a fun little addition, and it looks nice.

I hope the fish is cooked perfect.

That's the only...

..stressful thing.

I won't know until they eat it.

It's day two of heat week,

and today was all about chilli.

The question is,

will you blow our heads off or blow our minds?

The first dish we would like to taste...

..is...

..Aaron. (APPLAUSE)

AARON: Walking up, I'm very happy with this dish.

This is big, you know?

Like, I really have such a deep connection with it.

Being able to share this memory and nostalgia

and this dish with them is very special.

(WHISTLES)

Aaron, tell us what you've made.

AARON: I've made a Malaysian-style chilli crab.

I've just got some toasted baguettes on the side

because I thought, you know,

didn't want the sauce to go to waste. (CHUCKLES)

So, the flavour profile of this dish,

does this match your memories? It does. Yeah.

I really like how it's got, like, a slight hum of heat,

but that sweetness

and that really unctuous sauce as well.

It just makes you want to keep going back for more

and more and more.

It really elicits a lot of memories for me.

Big round table, you know, spinning the table.

Everyone's, like, got mess on their shirts.

OK. I'm, like, getting... like, jealous.

(LAUGHTER) I'm very excited to taste this.

Oh, my God, how are we going to eat this?

SOFIA: With gusto.

I'm taking absolutely no risks here.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to do that.

Ready.

This is pretty Asian, but.

(CRAB SHELL CRACKS) (CHUCKLES)

I do that all the time, too.

Yeah, yeah.

SOFIA: Sorry, dentist.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Can't believe I'm doing all this -

sucking my fingers like that.

Why don't you come back

in ten minutes, please, all of you?

(LAUGHTER) How did I do?

(LAUGHS) So good!

Aaron,

so many childhood memories evoked, eating this.

I think you've done a really beautiful job.

The colour of that sauce, the flavour,

really nice and intense.

And this was the perfect dish to cook for this challenge.

I think the amount of chilli you used was perfect...

..because just when you think it's going to get

a little bit too much, it just kind of evens out.

Aaron, God, that's a fun dish!

It's so much fun.

And, you know, it is absolutely delicious.

It's...it's the kind of food experience

that I travel for, that I know other people travel for.

It's such an immersive way to eat.

And I must say the cook on the crab is phenomenal.

It was just exploding

with those juices, the second I cracked into the claw.

The meat was really soft and sweet and tender,

and your sauce wasn't so spicy

that it overpowered the meat of that crab as well.

So, I am thrilled with that if you couldn't tell from this.

(AARON LAUGHS)

Mate, like, you just nailed the cook on the crab.

It is so, so, so, so, so perfect.

The legs were, like, cracking.

They were coming out in full slivers.

And then, using the leg as, like, a little straw

to just suck everything else. (LAUGHTER)

It's, like, my favourite bit.

You alright there?

I can't speak. Hang on, hang on. Wait, wait.

My lips are, like... Wait, wait.

My lips are so...burning. (LAUGHS)

Is it about chilli today, or what?

(LAUGHTER)

Listen, Aaron, this is fantastic.

You could be one of those top dishes today,

so well done, mate, honestly.

Thank you. Well done, Aaron.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

I'm beaming right now, getting that feedback.

You know, it's unreal.

Like, that...

Putting so much of myself on a plate,

and for them to...to enjoy it, to love it,

to eat it the way that it was intended, it's nice.

It's really, really nice to see.

Next up, Vinnie.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Vinnie, what's the dish, mate?

VINNIE: I did nduja-glazed prawns

with zucchini salad

and an nduja sauce that's, like, inspired

by those flavours.

When we said chilli, I mean, there's so many paths

that you could have gone down.

And making, like, a quick, cheat nduja

probably wasn't the one that I expected,

so I'm interested.

Vinnie,

I like the concept of this quick nduja,

I just don't think it's worked here.

The coarse nature of the pork,

it's giving much more mince vibes.

You know, like, nduja, it's... You barely notice the texture.

This one's more like the texture of a dandan noodle.

And I feel like it's just a little bit heavy

for the prawns.

SOFIA: They're kind of at war with each other

because you're getting meaty bits of mince

with a meaty prawn that's got, you know, some real bite to it.

It doesn't allow either one to fully shine.

It's yummy, but it's just a little bit disjointed,

and I don't think the execution

quite matched the ambition of your idea.

Thank you. Alright, mate.

(APPLAUSE)

Next up, Pat.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Pat, what have you made?

PAT: I've made my spin on patatas bravas.

The base is a spicy tomato sauce

with a saffron and potato hash,

topped with a smoked garlic mayo and green jalapeno,

and anchovy.

You said cook yum food that we like to eat,

and that's exactly what this is.

I'd love to have a cold beer with it.

What's the tomato sauce?

I assume that there's a bit of chilli in there.

Yeah, so it's got a few of the cayennes

that were roasted with the tomatoes and garlic

and a couple of fresh bird's eyes

and one of the red jalapenos.

Nice.

Pat, this looks bloody spectacular.

Oh, thank you.

Colours are so beautiful

and very, very consistent.

I really appreciate that.

Pat, you said you'd like a beer with this.

I think, for me,

I'd like to be somewhere in San Sebastian,

with, like, a really textural glass of white wine,

sitting up at a bar, eating this little tapa.

I love the direction that you've gone in with these.

And I think that the actual potato number itself

is absolutely delicious.

It's golden on the outside, soft in the middle.

Pat, mate,

you said you'd like to have it with a beer,

but unfortunately that's the downfall of it

because I was looking for something that was, like,

you know, a little bit more...balanced.

There's just a lot going on.

Like, the tomato, the chilli,

the smoked mayonnaise, the anchovy.

There's just a lot.

So, I think it's one of those classic ones,

where Pat just needed to go,

"Do I need everything?"

Alright. Thank you, Pat.

Cool. Thank you, guys.

(APPLAUSE)

Next dish we'd love to taste is Luke's.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

I wouldn't say I'm embarrassed, I'd just say I'm disappointed.

Hi, Luke. Hey.

The time it took me to fillet that fish today

just cost me, and you can see it on the plate.

How did you go?

Uh...

How did you go?

Uh...I didn't quite nail it as I'd like to.

It just took me so long to butterfly the fish.

So, the main thing that suffered is the sauce on top,

the kind of sambal.

I just had to throw it all in the pan at the end.

It is just going to be so unbalanced.

Be warned - I think it's pretty hot.

What did you run with, chilli-wise?

I went with cayenne in the salad,

like, big strips to get the flavour.

Yep. And then, it's one

of the bird's eyes in the sambal.

Oh, righto. Yeah.

Whew! OK.

Luke,

I so appreciate how much you tried to do today,

entering into a genre of cuisine that you don't do always.

But I feel you're a little bit of a cowboy,

and you're playing a Russian roulette all the time.

At this point in the competition,

you have to take measured risks.

The thing with sambals

is they do come together in the end with seasoning,

but I can taste

that the aromatics are still a little bit raw.

Yeah. So, you just needed

to cook them down further.

And probably, a pinch of sugar would have just...

That would have been great.

I love your salad.

Vibrant.

Your sambal, I think, is tasty.

I can get the chilli,

the heat, but...

..I need a liquid there, a combiner.

I feel like it was a bit of an uphill battle

when you decided to butterfly it.

I think, for me, you either butterfly and barbecue,

or you keep it whole and deep-fry it.

You need time for the flour to crisp up.

That time is just too long

for the flesh to still be cooked perfectly.

Only do a technique if it's worth it.

Yeah.

(APPLAUSE) Thank you.

You alright? Yeah, I'm fine.

The next dish we'd love to taste is yours, Petro.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Petro, what did you make?

PETRO: I made a chilli ice-cream

with a chilli and lime granita

and a toasted coconut tapioca pudding.

Alright, we're going to taste your dish.

Petro...

..that's the most refreshing chilli dish

I've ever had in my life.

(LAUGHS)

In terms of flavour,

it matches how it looks.

It's got the slightest caress of heat in the granita.

And then, with the ice-cream,

you're getting more of the floral, fruity notes.

Your tapioca - they're cooked perfectly.

They've got the most amazing sort of squidgy texture.

You can feel each one rolling around on your tongue,

and you've used just the right amount of coconut

to make everything creamy,

but not so coconutty

that you lose out all of the delicate,

elegant flavours of the chilli in your granita

and your ice-cream.

It's different, it's interesting,

and it's a really creative use of the chilli.

I think this could be a little surprise attack

and a contender for being up on the gantry.

Jeez, OK. Thank you.

Petro, I think if this was a strategic move,

to make a sweet on a day like this,

it was a correct move...

..because I couldn't love this more!

Great work. Thank you so much, Poh.

Petro, I've got to say,

that is probably the best granita I've had, full stop.

Oh! (CHUCKLES)

That is so, so, so, so, so delicious.

Talk about the colour,

but then you taste it, and it's just as vibrant.

It's got that beautiful tang of the chilli,

the flavour of the chilli, without the heat of the chilli.

And then, the way that you've so perfectly balanced it

with lime juice is unbelievable.

But...

..I couldn't get my head around the pear.

I just found it so interrupting.

I think it was a little bit powdery.

It was a little bit grainy.

I feel like there needed to be an element on there.

I just don't think, for me,

it was the right decision to put the pear on.

But I really, really, really loved that granita.

Thanks heaps, guys. Thanks, Petro.

Thanks, Petro. (APPLAUSE)

I feel like, overall,

my gamble to use chilli

in a dessert has paid off.

It's just a shame about my pear.

But, you know, the judges loved my granita,

and they've had Laura and Callum's,

so, for me, that's a big win.

OK, next up is Annabel.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Mmm!

Annabel, what have you made?

ANNABEL: I have made

a butterflied King George whiting with pipis

and a Thai red curry sauce.

Ooh! So, what chillies did you use?

I used the red cayenne,

and also some of the birdseye chillies.

So, on a scale of one to five,

how spicy is it?

I would say a three.

I wanted you to taste the chilli,

but I don't love, like, super hot stuff.

And so, I cooked the curry sauce

to my personal spice level. Mm-hm.

Let's see.

Standing in front of the judges,

you get that feeling, where you're like,

"Oh, God, where is this gonna land?"

I don't know what they're gonna think of it.

I'm hoping that fish is cooked perfectly.

Far out. I just don't know.

Um, Annabel,

the technique you've used to cook your fish...

..is fantastic.

(TABLE BANGS) Come on! This is fantastic!

(APPLAUSE) PAT: Annabel! Whoo!

The technique you've used to cook your fish

is called 'unilateral'.

Unilateral.

So, when you cook from one side, not everybody can do it.

Oh.

And also, to butterfly your fish,

not everyone can do it.

Thank you.

Technically, butterflying a piece of fish

who has so much bones, and so delicate,

cooking it on a barbie, on one side and only,

under pressure...

And this sauce? You've nailed a fantastic job there.

So, well done. Thank you.

Annabel,

I think putting the fish and the curry together

was a risk,

because King George whiting is super delicate.

Yeah.

And I was worried that that curry sauce

was just gonna overpower the fish.

But it was the cook on the hibachi

that just went, "Zoop,"

and linked them together.

The butterflying was absolutely spot-on.

Not a bone in sight.

The beautiful speed-bump char marks on the skin

was, like, spot-on.

The pipis!

Like, the pipis, they were so plump,

so delicious, so perfectly cooked.

And the chilli heat was spot-on.

This dish is technical,

but most importantly, it's flavourful as well.

You've used chilli in the perfect way

for this dish, particularly with a fish like that.

You know, it's very gentle, sweet flesh,

and to have too intense a chilli heat

would have just overshadowed the produce completely.

Can you see how happy we all are?

Yeah. Makes me happy. Like, with food like this,

it just makes us happy!

Annabel, you know what happens when you put together

a perfect plate of food like this one?

You're in the running

to be up there for the rest of the week.

Well done. Thank you. Thanks.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Today, we sent you into the garden

to pick the star of your dish -

chillies.

The challenge was all about balance

and letting those fiery gems shine.

But chilli is a tricky little thing.

Push the heat too far,

and it bulldozes every other flavour on the plate.

Hold back too much,

and they don't get their moment.

But hit that perfect chilli harmony...

..and you take out top dish and win immunity.

We had some great dishes,

showing chilli at its best,

but it came down to two.

Aaron, your mud crab and chilli sauce,

they worked together in perfect harmony.

On top of that, it was just fun to eat.

Great job. Thanks.

Annabel,

took a big risk using a delicate fish

with a curry sauce,

but you tied it perfectly together

with smoky flavour from the coals.

Clever cooking.

We think both of your dishes did a fantastic job

of celebrating chilli,

so it came down to the dish

who was utter perfection.

Which means...

..you are top dish...

..Annabel. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

ANNABEL: Great, through to top six!

That is... It's a really good feeling.

But, like, obviously, getting

really good feedback from the judges,

it just makes you feel even better.

Aaron...

..you should be very proud of yourself

because what you did today was amazing.

In fact, you were both so close -

the size of a birdseye chilli.

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

It was that close.

Well done, Annabel.

You can relax and enjoy your time on the gantry.

Everyone else,

there is one more immunity up for grabs.

So, if you want it, you are going

to have to bust your chops.

Good night. Well done.

SOFIA: Well done, guys. Well done, everyone.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) PAT: Thank you.

Great day today.

AARON: Ah! Nice work, Annabel.

ANNABEL: Well done to you, too.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night,

hibachis and heat week

go hand in hand.

But...

..we've unplugged the microwaves and the ovens,

and the stove tops have been removed.

ANNABEL: Oh!

Your only heat source today

are the coals in those hibachis.

Wait a minute - how am I going to actually cook

all the other elements for my dish?

PETRO: This is crazy.

AARON: Trying to make a sauce on a hibachi

I've never done before. (CHUCKLES)

VINNIE: I'm going as hard as I can

for this challenge today.

That spot on the gantry? It's mine.

I want this community so badly,

but, uh, I may have bit off

a little more than I could chew.

Oh! (GASPING)

ANNABEL: Oh-ho! VINNIE: It kind of seems

like the universe is against me with this dish.

Oh, Vin!

Oh, my God.

Captions by Red Bee Media