Original subtitles

(EXCLAIMING)

ANNABEL: Yay! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

PAT: Oh, I think we're using hibachis today.

I think so.

VINNIE: Walking into the MasterChef kitchen today,

there's hibachis on every bench,

so I have an inkling as to what this challenge could be.

I'm pretty excited for it.

Woo! Whoo-hoo!

Let's go, guys! Go, boys!

Sorry. Go, men!

Salut, mes amis.

G'day. Comment ca va?

It's heat week,

and things are heating up.

Today's challenge is the only thing

standing between you

and a guaranteed spot in top six.

The challenge is quite simple.

Use the heat of the hibachi

to cook us something delicious,

sweet or savoury.

You have 75 minutes

and full access to the pantry and garden.

But...

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

..and the stove tops have been removed.

Your only heat source today...

..are the coals in those hibachis.

LUKE: Only the hibachi for a challenge is...

That is nuts?

Honestly, I think it's just going to be chaos.

The hibachi can be your best friend in the kitchen

if you treat it right.

Pay close attention to what you're doing.

Manage your coals, and think about the type of heat you need.

The best dish will win immunity

and join Casper and Annabel on the gantry,

avoiding tomorrow's elimination challenge.

Your time starts now!

Come on! Allez! (APPLAUSE)

CASPER: Let's go, guys.

(WHOOPING)

VINNIE: Here we go.

PAT: OK, I got to think and think and think.

The initial reaction

is excitement for cooking over charcoal -

it's one of my favourite things to do.

But then, it does dawn on me that, you know, "Wait a minute.

"How am I going to actually cook

"all the other elements for my dish with only a hibachi?"

So, um, it's definitely got the cogs turning in my brain.

Come on, Vin! (MUTTERS INDISTINCTLY)

Come on, Luke!

Corn flakes!

(LAUGHS) ANNABEL AND CASPER: Go, Petro!

ANNABEL: Yum!

Cereal for breakfast. Pineapple corn.

It is so hard to cook

on a hibachi at the best of times.

And he's motoring, too. Yeah.

This is crazy.

But winning immunity today will mean everything.

It'll mean, you know,

fast track, straight into the top six,

which is huge.

I'm in a really positive mindset,

and I'm ready to do something big.

Well, fingers crossed it turns out.

Nice, Pat.

Knows his way around a hibachi.

Right. We are at the tail end of heat week,

and today it's all about cooking with coal.

So, Andy, you're the expert here.

I think...I think chefs love cooking over fire

for a couple of reasons.

Obviously, the flavour that you can get

is just next-level. Mmm.

But also, it's the challenge of cooking over coals.

You know, it's so different than turning on a gas hob

and being able to regulate it at your fingertips.

So, there's...there's, like, multiple things

that you have to think about.

But within a blink of an eye,

it can all just go down the sink.

Or it can go up in flames.

Or it can go up in flames. SOFIA: Hey!

Because it is, it's so unpredictable.

Yeah.

You know, you think you've got it, and next minute,

something's on fire.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: It's like a barbie.

Why I don't want to be in charge of the barbecue -

because it's a bloody nightmare.

It is. Yeah, same.

You know, you need a bit of sensitivity

to understand the heat. Mmm. Mmm.

And among these five,

everyone has used them. Yeah.

So, it'll be interesting to see who's going

to be creative today, and do things that are new

for the first time... Yeah.

..because that's a huge risk, versus those

who are going to play it as safe as you possibly can...

Yeah. ..with a hibachi,

which is not so safe. Mmm.

ANNABEL: Let's go, Aaron.

AARON: My oven has gone missing, apparently.

So, uh, we're gonna have to make do

with some coals today.

(GASPS) Coral trout! Coral trout.

No notes, man. No notes.

See you up here tomorrow.

We'll see.

Even though it's a white-apron day,

there's so few of us left, and there's a lot of pressure.

But I do have a certain level of comfort

when it comes to charcoal cooking.

It's a very primitive form of cooking,

and I really enjoy it.

So, cooking over coals.

So, we're gonna do a marinated coral trout collar

with some smoked pipis

and fennel fronds as the garnish.

I'm thinking of doing coral trout collar and fillet

so that you get two different textures.

You get one that's, like, full of collagen,

full of fattiness in the collar,

and then you also get the clean flavour

of the coral trout through the fillet.

Yeah, using the coral trout in this way,

I like how it's gonna have char.

It's gonna have, like, a bit of smoke flavour,

but also be really nice and caramelised.

So, yeah, I'm really looking forward

to how this all plays out.

Aaron, those wings look awesome.

Thank you. So good.

I think the hardest part of this is, one, to get the cook

on the fish right.

There's no way of controlling that heat.

You can't turn it down.

You can remove some of the coals,

but the heat retention in the hibachi is insane.

On top of that, trying to make a sauce on a hibachi

I've never done before.

Are you doing, like, a beurre blanc?

Uh, trying to do, like, a...

..like, a seafoody kind of sauce.

Cool. With...

I need to get prawn heads, actually. So...

OK, so we'll stop distracting you. Sorry.

(BOTH LAUGH)

So, trying not to scorch the sauce,

but still reducing it beautifully

is another challenge I'm gonna face.

Yummy. Yummy.

Yummy!

VINNIE: OK, let's do this now.

Go, Vinnie!

Honestly, my favourite thing about the hibachi

is just the flavour that you get from cooking over charcoal

and those little wisps of smoke that come out.

That is getting smoky.

We are setting it really hard today

because I'm going to do some things that I don't normally do,

and just to try and get the upper hand on other people.

I'm really gonna try and go back to my roots

and cook what I love to cook, but at the same time,

I still want to try and be creative and make something

a little bit more special, a little bit more unique.

Getting this far in the competition,

a lot of people are now getting much more competitive,

I feel, which is good,

but also, it means that I need to step it up as well.

So, I... I'm going as hard as I can

for this challenge today, and I'm gonna win it.

Vinnie. Hello.

I saw John Dory there. Yes, yes, yes.

Beautiful. Star of the show?

It will be the star of the show, for sure.

What's the dish? For sure.

I'm gonna do John Dory on the bone, on the hibachi,

with a smoked butter and tomato-gochujang sauce.

Yep.

And then, I'm gonna do a herb oil

and some yeasted flatbread... Wow.

..with, I think, maybe, like, a yuzu-miso butter on top.

OK. Yuzu-miso butter...

What was the sauce? Gochujang... Gochujang-tomato butter.

..tomato. OK. And smoked butter.

OK.

Honestly, probably the sauce

is almost the star of the show here,

because that smoky butter as, like, the base of the sauce

comes through, like, really, really well.

So, the interesting thing for me is that you've gone like,

"Oh, the gochujang-tomato butter is the hero."

Yeah. "But then I'm gonna slather

"miso and yuzu butter over the..."

Yeah. I'm not... That part, I'm not too sure yet.

That's the part that I was kind of...

Vinnie, I feel like we've had similar conversations like this

in the past, on your cooks that haven't gone super well.

Yeah.

I think you just need to rein it in,

before we even start talking about technique.

Yeah. 100%.

Because, like, there's just a lot there, mate.

Yep, yep, yep. And, like...

If you just focus on a really beautiful sauce...

Yeah.

..and cooking this fish over the coals

absolutely perfectly... Yeah.

..that's going to go a long way to getting you up there.

Yeah. OK. Heard. Thank you.

A lot to think about, mate. Good luck.

Thank you, thank you.

Just cooking that piece of fish perfectly,

over the coals,

like, if he can get that right...

Mmm. And then, keep it simple

with whatever else is going on. Yeah.

That's enough.

I feel like my competitiveness today is really coming out.

That's done. Done. Done.

So, I really just want to win as much as possible.

OK. Next.

Luke, is that rice?

Yeah. That's cool.

CASPER: Yeah. That's sick.

Where else was I gonna cook it? (CASPER LAUGHS)

Uh, I'm feeling excited to use the hibachis.

I've used it a couple times,

and I haven't had any major disasters,

which I'll take as kind of a win.

I think the trick today is going to be using it in a way

where I'm not just substituting an oven or a stove top,

but I'm using it in a way

where it actually makes my dish better.

There's this amazing

Indonesian dish called sate kambing,

which is this goat satay done over the hibachi,

over the coals, and it is just really delicious.

We don't have any goat in the pantry, sadly,

so I'm going to do some with some Australian lamb.

And I'm going to add in some of the natives,

like some wattleseed, some macadamias,

instead of candlenuts.

And then, it's gonna have a satay sauce to serve with it,

and hopefully, kind of change the flavour a little bit,

but keep the integrity of the dish.

This is a bit of a risky choice,

taking a classic dish and trying to add my own spin.

But on a challenge where immunity is up for grabs,

you kind of have to take a risk.

I've got my rice cooking,

and then I want to pop it in a pan and kind of squish it,

and make this...these kind of cool rice cakes.

Pandan and banana leaf flavour.

This dish is kind of a balance of a lot of different flavours.

And although it probably doesn't look gigantic,

the dish, there's actually a lot going into this.

Is that pandan? CASPER: Banana leaf.

Ah.

POH: Hey, Luke. Hey, hey.

Hi, Luke. What are you making today?

I'm making an Aussie version of sate kambing,

and I'm going to use lamb because I don't have goat here.

Yep. I'm gonna chuck in a few natives

because I feel like it'll amplify the flavour.

I see.

And then, I'm gonna do a satay sauce to go with it.

Yeah.

But I'll put some macadamias as well as peanuts.

What are your thoughts? OK.

Ooh, I love it already! Very interesting.

I think everything sounds good,

but I think the thing about changing up classics

is that it has to be better than the original.

For me, it's all about the flavour on the satay,

the way you season that,

and also the balance on the sauce,

getting that right.

Yeah, OK. OK? Alright.

Yeah. Thanks, guys. OK.

Remember, you want to be top dish today.

'Cause it's a one in four chance of going home tomorrow.

You can do it, yeah? Alright? Good luck.

OK. Thanks.

I think the feedback has just thrown me off a little bit.

Oh, it is hot, isn't it?

They said, "Make it better than the original," but, yeah...

I'm hoping that I can execute it

and get it up to the judges how I want,

and they'll see that this dish is really a great idea.

Time flies when the coals are burning.

60 minutes to go! ANDY: Come on, let's go!

(APPLAUSE)

CASPER: Go, Patty. Oh, wow!

Oh!

Go, Petro!

I'm excited about using the hibachi

as the only heat sauce.

I feel like it plays to my strengths -

I cook over fire a lot.

But it does add the pressure.

That corn is black.

Yeah.

I'm gonna need to take some coals out.

But that also fuels me as well.

Yeah, I thought, try to, you know, separate myself

from the pack and do something that's going to excite me

and that's really creative.

So, yeah.

Growing up, it was a big thing

to eat charcoal corn on the beach.

There was all these stalls that would just have a grill

and cobs of corn.

And that memory of biting into that corn and getting

that beautiful sweetness

and the char and the butter and the salt,

I want to play off that today.

Petro! Hello. How's it going?

Breakfast! Yes, breakfast.

Dessert! Yes.

Ice-cream! Yes.

What? Yes!

Yeah, I know. Uh... I'll do that now.

(LAUGHS) OK.

I mean, I'll think about it later.

I've used hibachis quite a bit in this kitchen,

and I've always done grilled meats.

And I thought this is just a way for me to separate myself

from the rest of the pack if I can pull it off.

That you are doing.

Talk us through it.

So, yeah, I'm doing, um, charred-corn ice-cream.

I'll be doing a dark rum caramel,

some pickled pineapple... Mm-hm.

..some toasted pine nuts.

And then, I'll make some clusters out of this

to do, like, a crumb base.

I can see you warming your milk for the anglaise.

Dark rum caramel over an open flame.

Mm-hm.

You know, these clusters as well.

This is a big gamble, mate.

I came on MasterChef to kind of excite myself as well

and try things that I don't cook at home.

I do a lot of grilled meats at home.

Yeah. I've never done a dessert.

You'd never done a dessert

on the stove top before you came here.

(ALL LAUGH) Pretty much. Yeah.

I love it, mate. You're excited.

I'm excited. Are you excited? I'm pumped.

Alrighty. Big gamble, big reward.

Thank you, guys.

So, this is crunch time now.

I need to get this ice-cream base chilled,

blend in my corn,

and then get my ice-cream on

because this is kind of the star of the show.

I think, if I nail this dish,

I've got a great chance at getting that immunity spot.

But the risk factor is ten out of ten.

And if I don't get every element perfect,

it could just fall flat.

ANNABEL: Go, Petro. (LAUGHS)

I have to get a move on. Nah, you'll be good.

You'll be good.

This is your challenge.

What is that smell?

I smell... Oh, it's Pat's chillies I can smell now.

Yes. We're going to be using heat

with the hibachi and heat with chillies today.

Whenever I think of charcoal,

I once again go to South-East Asian, Thai flavours.

So, a lot of spice, a lot of sour, sweet, salty.

It's the exact type of food I like to eat.

So, I'm going to go down that avenue again today.

Knows his way around a coconut, doesn't he?

(CHUCKLES)

Today, I'm doing charcoaled squid in a Thai chilli jam.

There's going to be

a young coconut and lime leaf puree,

a green mango and daikon salad,

and some other garnishes as well.

The first thing I get onto is the chilli jam.

It's where all the flavour of the dish is coming from.

So, the fresh red chillies, the shallots,

the garlic will all be charred on the hibachi,

and it'll add a real smoky depth to that jam.

It smells really good. Thank you.

Is that you? Yeah, it's the garlic.

It smells really good on the char.

Next step is to get them into a food processor

and blitz that up.

And that will cook down

until the oil starts to separate out.

And it's all caramelised and dark.

I've never made a jam over the coals before.

The risk is that it cooks at the wrong pace.

So, too slow, and it's not going to come together in time.

Too fast, and it will over-reduce and burn.

So, I really need to keep an eye on that hibachi.

But if every part of this dish comes off,

and the flavour balance is there,

I think it's really delicious,

and it could be enough to get me up on the gantry.

That's always the aim.

Blast chiller.

Yeah. Nice. Good move.

We have a dessert on hibachi day.

POH: Wow. By, guess who?

Mr Petro again. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Ooh!

Yes. Wanted to stand out from the crowd.

Wanted to be a little bit strategic.

Wow. And he's going

to centre his dish around a corn ice-cream.

So, charred corn with pickled pineapple.

He's got corn flakes there,

which he's going to make

into, like, this little cluster crumb, so...

I am loving the sound of that.

Yes, but, I mean, it's just

you associate desserts with precision.

Mm-hm. Precision is really hard to get

when your only heat source is two hibachi.

POH AND SOFIA: Mmm.

But, mate, me is absolutely

going for it. He's going for it.

ANNABEL: Go, Vin.

Vinnie's an interesting one because he's doing John Dory

on the hibachi,

wants to do a flatbread,

and then kind of has two different saucy butters.

One of them is flavoured with gochujang,

and the other one with yuzu.

So, I think he just needs to focus on what he knows today.

Alright, Lukey, he is doing an Indonesian-style satay,

which is usually made with goat, but he's doing it with lamb.

He's doing an Australian riff on it.

Oh, really? Yeah.

He's kind of got all the signals of doing the right things,

but, for me, a satay is actually a very, very technical dish.

Yeah.

And I told him it has to be better than the original.

So, I think that's his pressure point there.

Uh, I'm just currently working

on my second marinade for the lamb.

I've got the kind of pineapple marinade,

which is tenderising the lamb as we speak.

And then, once that's done, I'll brush it off,

then put on this marinade,

which I'll then combine with the pineapple

and get a really nice char on it while it's cooking.

Ah, I'm a little bit shaken by what the judges have said

that my take of sate kambing,

it needs to be better than the original dish.

But I can't really think about it right now.

I'm just gonna keep working on my other elements.

Yeah, it feels like, maybe, they just don't quite have

the vision of the dish that I've got in my head.

But I think, if I can still punch in the flavour,

and I've shown a lot of technique in this dish,

I'm hoping that'll impress the judges.

I'm creating almost like a curry paste

that I'm gonna use for the satay sauce

and also for the marinade on the lamb.

I want a huge big skewer, with big slabs

of meat on it that are super nice and tender,

almost like they've been slow-cooked.

And then, with just this beautiful char

from the hibachi on the outside.

And so, when you bite into it, it just melts in your mouth,

but you have these crunchy bits of char.

And if I can get that, then this dish will be bangin'.

ANNABEL: Yummy!

The judges are super excited

about my charred-corn ice-cream dessert,

so that's really motivating me a lot.

I want to make this work.

So far, my charred corn is looking great.

It's got beautiful black spots over it.

Anglaise is chilled.

Now, all I need to do is blitz it together,

strain it, and put it into the ice-cream churner.

Get it in the churner!

Come on, mate, let's motor.

Mmm!

Oh! That tastes good. Yum.

That time is a-ticking.

Now, it's time to get onto my dark rum caramel...

..just to add that luscious feel

and to really connect all the elements together.

Rum, and done. Nice.

Biting into that corn at the beach, you would get

this beautiful char,

but this beautiful sweetness,

and the salt that was sprinkled on top.

So, I really want the charred corn to be the hero.

But there's going to be hits of acidity, sweetness, fat.

It's going to have all of that.

I want this immunity so badly.

Yeah, that's the goal today.

You're running out of time.

26 minutes to go!

ANDY: Come on, everybody! (APPLAUSE)

CASPER: Ah, yummy, Pat!

Whoa, bro!

That's smelling smoky, Vinnie. VINNIE: It's getting there.

I reckon one more, and it'll be, like, really smoky.

OK. Yeah.

There's less than 25 minutes to go.

I'm realising now I really need to push.

There is a lot of elements that aren't finished here.

I've started to roll out my flatbread,

and I've got my butter smoking,

and I've got my herb oil straining in the fridge.

Vinnie, the bread looks sick.

As I put that first piece of flatbread on,

it starts bubbling up beautifully.

(GASPS) Oh, look at the puff!

Oh! Oh, nice.

Vin!

That looks awesome.

Now I'm ready to start cooking the fish on the hibachi.

So, I'm thinking the John Dory is a beautiful, delicate fish.

It is super important

that I get a really nice, crispy skin,

and it stays on the fish.

CASPER AND ANNABEL: Oh!

What's he doing? Maybe not there.

Uh... What...what happened?

I put the oil in the fire.

Oh. Oh, whoopsies!

This is the main centrepiece of my dish,

and it needs to be perfect.

But at the same time, I also need to get my sauce

emulsified and ready.

I've got two hibachis going.

I've got things going everywhere.

There's a lot of moving parts.

Good, Vinnie? How's your bread?

Burnt.

(LAUGHS) That's a tester.

What's that smell?

(CHUCKLES) One flatbread down.

At least I've got some more.

Nice, Vinnie.

But there's a lot of stuff everywhere at this moment.

I feel like my bench is reflective of my head.

Don't burn it this time, yeah?

I won't burn it.

I'm kind of just trying to be in, like, four spots at once.

Bloody forget everything all the time.

That's there. That's OK.

I look at my hibachi, and I can smell burning.

Uh-oh.

Another flatbread is down.

It's alright. Just need one good one.

Oh! (GASPS)

Oh, my gosh. What happened? What happened?

ANDY: Oh, he just spilt all of his sauce, did he?

POH: Oh, sh...

VINNIE: There's less than 15 minutes to go, and I'm kind of

just trying to be in, like, four spots at once.

I got to come back to my sauce and...

CASPER: Oh! (ANNABEL GASPS)

..it spills everywhere.

ANDY: Oh, he just spilt all of his sauce.

POH: Oh, sh...

I'm definitely feeling really flustered,

really stressed out right now.

I don't think I can serve floor sauce to the judges.

Has he got any left? Um...

It's alright, Vin, you've got time to recover.

I'm trying to clean up the mess that I've made here

and not slip on the floor while I'm doing it.

Got this, Vin.

I feel I'm a bit shaky.

Um, you know,

so I'm just trying to calm down a little bit and just refocus.

My fish is still cooking on the hibachi.

Luckily, that hasn't burned.

Alright, let's do this sauce so we can get it away from here.

I've got all the elements that I need to make a new sauce,

but what's just happened

is reflective of my mindset right now.

So, I'm starting to approach it in a different way.

My last couple of dishes that I've had,

they've had, like, so many different flavours in there

that it just hasn't worked out because of that.

So, I feel like I'm really going to just try and rein it in,

and just make sure everything works.

For my flatbread, I've decided to lose the yuzu-miso,

and instead just brush it with some olive oil.

So, I'll get rid of that miso-yuzu flavour from there.

And then, the sauce,

it's got, like, a little teaspoon of gochujang,

as opposed to amping it up with gochujang too much.

Yum.

Today is definitely all about saving time

and really toning the rest of the flavours of the dish.

We still have a chance here.

Let's get that away so we don't drop it. (CHUCKLES)

Ohh.

Don't cremate them. (CASPAR CHUCKLES)

PETRO: I've got just over ten minutes to go for my dessert,

and I still don't have anywhere near a finished dish.

Ice-cream's tasting good, I think.

I'm working on my pine nuts,

and I really need to start my cornflake clusters.

As soon as I ran out with that cornflake box,

I think the judges were super intrigued

and a bit confused as to what I was going to do today.

But I've had success using cornflakes in this kitchen,

and hopefully, today, I can have success again with them.

So I need to toast off some cornflakes and butter,

hit them with a bit of salt,

take them really far so they're almost bitter,

and then add a bit of honey, cook that out quickly,

put them in a bowl,

and they're going to be my main crunch element.

Ah, but I may have bit off a little more than I can chew.

But...we're going to get it up.

You guys are on fire! Ten minutes to go!

(APPLAUSE)

Oh, the sink's here. Where am I going?

LUKE: Aaron, brother, how are you getting on?

Er... Going OK so far. How are you?

Yeah, similar. Keep pushing, mate.

So, I've just got my pipis that I've cooked,

and I'm just smoking them in a bit of thyme smoke.

And I want to make sure that the fish is cooked perfectly.

ANNABEL: Yum. Aaron, that looks unreal.

I want to get a bit more colour on this side.

My thoughts exactly.

As I'm doing the fish,

and I'm making sure that's all good,

I'm focusing on the sauce.

It's got that deep seafoody flavour.

CASPAR: Are your prawn heads in the sauce?

Yeah. Yeah.

It hits a point where - this is it.

This is where I want it to be.

You can see the colour's beautiful

'cause of the saffron.

I feel like, right now, I'm really in my zone,

where nothing else matters but the food.

Patty, that's smelling...

It's going, like... Delightful.

That dark, it's like... Yum, Pat.

It's so good.

The smells coming from Pat's bench are pretty banging!

Oh, that's good. Really happy with that.

It's got a great kick, it's really strong.

Exactly what I wanted.

The chilli jam has been cooking down for a while

with the palm sugar, tamarind and fish sauce.

It's all combined beautifully and I'm happy with the flavour.

So it's done. I'm going to set it aside.

I'm glad I got all my mise en place done early

and I'm going to cook this squid right now.

And then it's all a matter of it all coming together.

Time to cook the squid.

I get the coals really piping hot,

get the squid on for a couple of minutes each side,

and get that beautiful char marks on there.

Whoa, that squid's running away from you, Pat.

(CHUCKLES)

Shut up, Annabel.

Sorry. (LAUGHS) (CHUCKLES)

I've finally got all my elements cooked.

It's definitely going to come down to the balance

of the flavour of the dish.

And in my mind, I think that the young coconut puree

will mellow the really full-on chilli jam,

and also the really strong dressing

that's going on the salad.

So I've just got to hope the judges like it, as well.

Come on, Petro.

You getting ready for plate-up, Petro?

Yeah, I'm just tasting everything together.

Yeah, nice.

I see I've got about five minutes to go,

and I'm thinking there could be a lot wrong with the dish.

The balance could be off.

The ice-cream could be icy,

and I'm only just tasting everything together now.

Yummy?

I really love my ice-cream,

but everything's so rich

and the pineapple isn't zingy enough.

It needs a little more definition.

And it just needs something. It needs a lift.

I'm putting in more lime zest, I'm putting in more lime juice,

and a little hint of citric acid, as well.

It's a very last-minute decision,

but I've got no time to think of anything else.

Looking at my dish just evokes all these memories.

I think I'm in with a shot.

Three minutes to go!

(APPLAUSE)

LUKE: The time's running out,

and I've got my lamb on the hibachi.

I'm using my first glaze,

which is a combination of both my marinades together.

And the smell of it is just pinging with flavour.

Ooh! Oh, that looks great. Yum. Unreal.

I've definitely hit the brief.

I've used the hibachi in a bit of an inventive way,

doing the rice and the satay on there.

But if it doesn't taste better than the original dish,

then I'm in a bit of strife.

I'm just backing myself in and I'm hoping it pays off.

VINNIE: I'm definitely feeling a lot clearer

on the flavours of this dish.

I've got a nice, beautifully charred

piece of fish.

I've got a rich sauce from that smoked butter.

Don't let it go up in flames! One minute to go!

Come on, Vinnie, don't burn it.

VINNIE: For my flatbread,

This whole yuzu miso butter just wasn't needed,

and something much more simple can really make the bread shine

and bring my dish together as a whole.

Looks great.

I just hope that how I was feeling during this cook

hasn't come out too much onto this plate.

Time's up! In ten...

JUDGES: Nine, eight, seven, six,

five, four, three, two,

one!

That's it, everybody. Well done.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Well done. Great work.

How'd you go? Yeah, not bad.

How about you? I think I did alright.

Good stuff.

Well, today was all about cooking

with one of my favourite pieces of equipment in this kitchen -

the hibachi.

We are looking for the top dish to join these two,

Casper and Annabel, up on the gantry,

safe as houses.

Let's see how you did.

POH: First dish we'd like to taste...

..is Luke's!

LUKE: Looking at my dish,

it's not exactly a traditional sate kambing.

But this is my take.

It's exactly what I would want to eat.

I'm just really hoping that,

when the judges taste this dish,

that spot on the gantry, it's mine.

Luke, what have you made?

I've made

an Australian-inspired sate kambing

with a satay sauce and rice cakes.

Why did you go in this direction?

When I heard the challenge,

I was keen to do a dish that really got the smoke flavour.

And this was a dish that I was kind of inspired by,

and, yeah, I thought it was a fun dish.

Shall we taste? Mm-hm.

Luke, you really are a bit like a box of chocolates.

We never know what we're going to get. (LAUGHS)

Um...

Um, I think you've done a brilliant job.

Thanks, Poh.

I'm actually amazed because it was a very ambitious cook.

You've definitely drawn a ton of flavour

out of cooking on the coals.

Ketupat... This is called ketupat. ..is awesome.

Yes! It's really delicious.

It's, like, got that beautiful aroma of the pandan.

So, amazing.

I think the thing that I'm most impressed with

is the balance of your sauce.

I think you've balanced the salty, sweet, sour and spicy

really, really well.

And it's very tasty.

Luke, when this whole platter came to the table,

it promised a lot, and I feel like, flavour-wise -

spot-on, nailed it.

You know, just the lamb itself, having those burnish edges.

The satay, it was like, you know, nearly splitting out

with the oil - it was that fatty and rich.

Yeah, good stuff. Good stuff.

I absolutely love your brochettes.

Your satay sauce, you can get the nuttiness.

your seasoning is on point.

And the rice - lovely. Original.

It's the first time, by the way,

I get some rice sticking on my finger like this,

and I love it.

(SOFIA CHUCKLES)

This is great, Luke.

It's a really delicious plate of food.

I just really enjoyed the whole experience.

It's like being in Indonesia or Malaysia

where you have, like, little nibble of the onion

and, you know, a bit of meat,

and then you get the rice stuck on your fingers

and you're kind of just in heaven making a mess.

So I thought it was a really great job.

Thanks, guys.

(APPLAUSE)

Oh, mate.

The judges loved it! Come on!

I've backed myself in and backed in my own ideas.

It paid off.

To be honest, this could actually win me immunity.

Pat, you're next.

Go, Patty!

I'm definitely missing home a lot.

So, if the judges like the dish as a whole,

and if I can get up on that gantry,

it'll make being away from home all worth it.

Pat, what have you made us?

I've made barbecued chilli-jam squid

with a young coconut puree

and a green mango and daikon salad.

Alright, let's dig in.

Pat, the chilli jam does not get any better.

It was perfectly balanced.

I love that you charred everything on the grill.

Perfect thing to do.

And the squid, it was done so beautifully.

I also love the green mango and the daikon.

I thought they add really nice pops of acidity

and also just, like, fresh crunch.

I don't think I love...

..the young coconut puree.

What it does is it actually mellows out all the fireworks

that you'd created with the chilli jam.

Maybe just use that coconut flesh as little slivers

so you get, like, lots of crunch.

But, like, I think you've done such a great job.

Pat, I applaud you.

I love it.

I absolutely love the way you cooked that squid.

I love the texture, I love the way you sliced it,

and I love the way you chargrilled.

So, basically speaking, you've made me very happy.

So thank you so much, Pat.

Cook on the squid is phenomenal. Loved it.

The chilli jam - mate,

you've hit the nail on the head with the balance there.

Like, it's got that intensity,

it's got that real kind of deep funkiness.

Feels like you've tasted that and gone,

"I need to be here with the sweetness,

"here with the sourness, here with the umami."

It's stunning.

Just not sure if you needed the puree.

Thank you.

Next up, Vinnie!

(APPLAUSE)

VINNIE: I'm still believing in this dish.

I definitely feel like toning it back

helped round it all out.

I'm just hoping that, when the judges cut into this fish,

that it just flakes off the bone perfectly,

and it's just cooked through - still nice and juicy.

Vinnie, what's the dish, mate?

I did a John Dory on the bone,

with a smoked butter and tomato sauce.

And then I've got a basil and parsley oil,

and some flatbreads.

So, what was the problem at the start?

I feel like, this week,

I've been trying to, like, push myself to be creative.

So I had, like, a million ideas

that I was going to try and get onto the plate.

But then it got chaotic...

..when I spilled my sauce all on the floor. So...

Um... But, you know, you've got to keep going.

If I actually thought about it, it made sense.

There were just too many flavours going on.

It's a beautiful, delicate fish, John Dory.

It needs so much attention to detail

with that cook on the fish.

I'm hoping that it's perfect.

Rip the Band-Aid off?

Yep.

I'm very keen to cut this fish open.

Very keen. Yes, me too. Me too.

Rip the Band-Aid off?

Yep.

OK.

Oh, Vinnie.

No good?

It's not coming away from the bone, mate.

It just needs to flake away, but it's holding on.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Vinnie...

..the flatbreads are really well done.

Really well done.

They've got a beautiful chew on them,

they're still nice and airy,

and you've cooked them so lovely over the coals.

Like, it couldn't be done any better at all.

But I think the fish is 30 seconds under.

Which is a shame because it is really beautiful.

The sauce, I would say it was such a good idea

to smoke that butter - I really loved it -

but I just thought it was a touch too acidic for me.

But from where this dish started to where it ended

is a positive.

SOFIA: Vinnie,

I love the sauce.

I love how bright and acidic it is.

I wasn't even mopping it up with the bread,

I was just going in for the spoonful.

I think it's a stunner.

Fish is a little bit under - can see where you were going.

Had you nailed that,

this could have been the perfect dish.

Vinnie, beautiful sauce.

I can't believe you had that boo-boo in the middle.

You definitely redeemed it.

I do agree with Andy.

I think it's just a touch over-acidic.

I just wanted it to be a little bit more mellow.

Mm-hm. And, of course, the fish.

My piece was actually perfect, but what Andy said -

it's just that flesh that's sitting right on the bone...

Yeah. ..just slightly under.

Yeah. Thank you very much.

Oh, unlucky with that one, Vinnie.

That's alright.

If I had just cooked that fish just that tiniest bit more,

it would have been perfect.

And I've got to back myself for that because...

Thank you.

..if I just put a bit of extra care

and have a nice, clear mindset,

I can have a good shot at being top dish.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: OK, next...

..Aaron.

(WHISTLES)

So, Aaron, tell us, what have you made?

AARON: I've made a charred coral trout collar and fillet

with some pipis and a seafood sauce.

Your sauce looks lovely and very glossy.

I hope it tastes as good as it looks.

Right, Aaron. Your sauce...

..is delicious.

In fact, it's absolutely impeccable.

You've got that little orange jus -

the thyme, a bit of saffron, the charred fennel.

We've got Aaron when Aaron is fantastic.

Love the sauce, my pipis were great,

but your coral trout is a bit under.

Particularly on the wing, as well.

When you're doing, like, a beautiful, very rich,

bisque, seafoody sauce,

you sort of need the meatiness and the char of the fish

to stand up against it.

Yep.

Aaron, the sauce is...

It's the sweet spot.

I love that charred fennel in there.

The consistency is off its head,

and it really is very well rounded

with the cream and the butter.

It's stunning.

I like the cook on the coral trout,

on the fillet.

I love it when you can kind of hold it up to the light,

you can still see the kind of rainbow colours through it.

It's an amazing fish.

I do, however, feel like

the skin needed a little bit more attention.

And so it is still a little bit leathery on the fillet.

So the hero here is the sauce.

You just need to take all the confidence from that.

From now on out, it's about here.

Thanks, mate.

The next dish is yours, Petro!

PETRO: Walking my dish up to the judges,

I'm feeling a little bit nervous,

and I'm thinking

maybe I may have taken on a bit too much.

Oh, wow. So many bits.

I can't believe I've done desserts

over a hibachi.

Whoa.

It's a very risky dish.

Petro, what do we have here?

I have charred corn ice-cream with some pickled pineapple,

a dark rum caramel, and some toasty bits.

So we said hibachi challenge... Yeah.

..and you said, "Yep. Dessert."

Yes. Why?

Even a month ago, I would never have thought

or even dared to attempt a dish like this.

But with so few cooks - and they're all amazing -

you really have to bring the level up.

I'm happy that I've done something creative

and not played safe.

Alright. Well, it's a good strategy.

Let's see if it pays off.

SOFIA: Shall we? POH: Yeah.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Thank you.

Thank you.

Sorry, Andy. Have you got the time?

Me? Yeah. The time. What time is it?

Um, I'm not too sure... Thank you very much.

(CHUCKLES)

Oh, you wanted some more?

Can I just have a little bit more?

You girls go.

(CHUCKLES)

Petro...

..I love it.

In fact, I was going to try something new

'cause I'm getting tired of always slapping the table.

(LAUGHS)

Yeah!

(SPEAKS FRENCH)

Fantastic. Thank you, Chef.

It's the details.

Like the rum, the little bit of chilli,

the pine kernels, the bit of salt.

You've created a dish which is absolutely,

from top to the bottom, impeccable.

I've loved watching your confidence grow

in the last couple of weeks,

and I saw you move with such purpose today.

And I can taste it in every layer.

We know that you are great with a hibachi,

but there is no way we would have stood here today

thinking that we are going to get a roasted corn sundae.

It's beautiful, mate.

A lot of really interesting flavours going on in there.

It almost feels like a fine-dining dish

that's been put into a sundae.

And the corn ice-cream is absolutely the hero.

It is the corn that's coming off the barbecue,

whether you're in Cyprus or Turkiye or Mexico,

or wherever.

And it's been put into a beautiful, sweet dish

that has multiple layers of smoke and char,

and then a beautiful element of nostalgia

with the cornflakes in there,

that sugar syrup right at the bottom.

I adore it.

How are you feeling?

Yeah, pretty emotional, to be honest.

You know, it's amazing to get this sort of feedback.

These are the sorts of dishes

that, before coming on MasterChef,

I wished I could do or even conceptualise.

And actually putting up plates of food like this,

um, kind of doesn't feel real.

It feels like I'm living a dream.

You can pinch yourself 'cause this is real.

This is real. And you just made that.

POH: That's a signature dish, Petro.

Thank you, guys. Well done. Thank you.

Well done, Petro. Well done.

I took a big risk today,

and even though the judges loved my dessert,

I don't know whether it's enough to win immunity

on a day like today.

There were two dishes that stood out from the rest.

Petro, every layer of your dessert,

from the cornflake crumb at the base

to the charred corn ice-cream,

was incredible.

A truly exciting cook from you.

Luke, your dish was full of confidence.

The sauce was impressive and the flavours were spot-on.

It was a great choice of dish

to carry the flavour of the coals.

Really great work.

Well done, Luke.

AARON: Great job.

SOFIA: Both your dishes stood out

for all the right reasons.

But the dish we couldn't go past...

..was your charred corn sundae, Petro!

ANDY: Petro!

Congratulations.

You've won immunity and you're in the top six!

Wey!

I cannot believe that I've won immunity

off a dessert on the hibachi.

This is crazy.

But I'm so glad I took a risk, and it's paid off.

Thank you, guys. Thanks, mate.

Petro, you are safe.

Unfortunately, that means Pat, Vinnie, Luke

and Aaron,

tomorrow, you guys will be fighting

to stay in the competition.

We'll see you tomorrow. Allez, salut. Goodnight.

Night, everyone!

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night, in true MasterChef style,

heat week is a duel to the finish.

Let's go, guys! MAN: Come on, guys!

Come on!

Wahey!

VINNIE: To go one on one against someone

in the MasterChef kitchen is really, really scary.

LUKE: That's my spot on the line.

I don't want to go home.

It'll be a hotly contested battle

to keep their spot in the competition.

ANDY: Cook like it's the last time

that you'll ever cook in this kitchen.

PAT: My fate is all going to come down to this dish.

I don't really know what I'm doing.

This is an absolute disaster.

Captions by Red Bee Media