Original subtitles

ANNABEL: Alright, guys.

PETRO: Another day, another dollar.

CASPER: Mmm. Well, may the best person win.

I don't think I ever would have imagined myself

getting to this point.

You know, you have bloody made top five.

I definitely have this, like, insane hunger

to make it through to the semifinals.

Like, I can picture it when I go to sleep at night.

I, like, have dreams about it.

But, you know, Casper,

Aaron and Petro

are three incredibly strong cooks.

But I'm like, "Nah, block out the noise.

"Just, like, block out the boys. Just block it all out.

"Just, like, focus on your own game, girl."

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

AARON: Oh, yeah, yeah. There we go.

There we go, there we go, there we go.

Oh, what does...?

Walking in, it's only Sofia and Jean-Christophe.

Not sure where Andy and Poh are, but it looks like,

uh, there's some unexpected surprises today.

(APPLAUSE CONTINUES) Uh-oh.

I've got some great news.

Andy won't be joining us today

because his wife, Alex,

is having their first baby!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

We are so excited!

(LAUGHTER)

SOFIA: This probably doesn't come as much of a surprise,

but the judge who set today's challenge

is an absolute MasterChef icon.

She's competed in not one, but two seasons of MasterChef,

which makes her the perfect person

to set today's pressure test.

She's an author,

artist, amazing cook,

and she still has time

to run Adelaide's much-loved Jamface.

Please welcome Poh Ling Yeow!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Woo!

She looks so professional in her full, like, Jamface fit.

And I'm like, "Oh, she means business today."

Oh, my God, it's so weird

there's only five of you.

Hello, hello.

PETRO: We love Poh... (LAUGHS)

..but I'm a little scared about what's under that cloche

because this is my first-ever pressure test.

(LAUGHTER)

And to do my first one this late in the competition

is really scary.

Poh, care to show them what they'll be making?

POH: What I have under this cloche

is something that's very close to my heart.

And it's also something

that usually takes years to perfect.

Today, you'll be making my...

Ooh! AARON AND ANNABEL: Oh!

..Malaysian snacks.

(EXCLAIMING AND APPLAUSE)

Look at the pleats on that thing.

Malaysian snacks was probably one of the last things

I would have thought would be under there,

and it hit so close to home for me

because I'm Malaysian, right?

This is all the stuff I used to grow up eating, plus more.

I know how to eat them. I don't know how to make them.

So what we have here

is spiral karipap,

or curry puff... (CHUCKLES)

..kuih lapis

and kuih koci.

This is more than just food to me.

These are recipes that have been passed down

many generations through my family,

and I'm so happy to be sharing them with you.

Do you want to come in for a closer look.

CONTESTANTS: Yes. Come on, then.

PETRO: Oh, wow. Look at those curry puffs!

(LAUGHS) They're unreal!

(ANNABEL GASPS) CASPER: Oh, my God.

POH: So, this is the curry puff.

Oh, my days!

It's got a very specific kind of pastry,

like a puff, but it's in spiral form.

So, you want to be able to see those spiral layers.

Kuih lapis. This one's really fun.

(LAUGHS) You'll...you'll feel

like you're doing arts and crafts.

Most of the mixture is vanilla,

but for the purple layer, there's ube.

And then, for the green, it's pandan.

Every layer should peel apart. Yeah!

Like this. Oh!

Stop it.

So, when we were little kids, it's, like, one of the things

that's really delightful about this -

you eat it layer by layer.

(LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) It's really satisfying.

Like, that's wild. Oh, my God.

But the pressure points are really

all about getting your colouring really beautiful

so you get that really lovely rainbow effect.

And if it's not cooked through,

you won't be able to peel it because they'll fuse together.

Mmm. OK?

And then, kuih koci.

There's a lot in here

about the folding and the construction.

And inside is glutinous rice flour

that's been kneaded with coconut milk

and pandan water.

And then, stuffed inside is coconut that's been braised

in palm sugar and coconut cream.

Oh, wow!

For the kuih koci,

the pressure points, I think, are big time in the wrapping.

So, you need to get that right.

But one of the biggest pressure points, of course,

is that you're going to have to be multi-tasking

because you're making all three at the same time.

PETRO: Three dishes!

Oh, that is an ask.

And they actually look pretty technical.

Oh! I love...

Squidgy. (LAUGHS)

It's fun, right?

A kuih lapis is like a mochi-esque

sort of dessert cake.

It's got all these glutinous, um, flours in it

that give it chew.

So, it's kind of a marriage of a mochi and a jelly.

And it's multi-layered and different-coloured.

And my sister and I, when we were younger,

we used to peel all the layers we didn't want

and eat the ones we did.

(LAUGHS) So, you know, it elicits so much memory for me

and nostalgia.

So, what are you tasting?

Coconut.

(LAUGHS) Yeah.

A lot, a lot of coconut. Yeah.

And that natural pandan flavour? Mmm.

So that's in the glutinous rice? Yes.

Yep. And this is banana leaf?

POH: Yes.

PETRO: You can smell it? POH: Yeah, yeah.

Kuih koci is so fragrant.

And I remember I used to love,

like, pulling it apart with my hands

and, like, seeing it stretch and, you know,

getting the filling everywhere.

The inside, I was like...

Couldn't care less for when I was younger.

But now I understand that you get that, like, sweetness,

the saltiness,

there's, like, the texture of the coconut as well.

Some of the techniques are so difficult to describe

in a recipe form.

I'm actually going to do a little demo for you.

CASPER AND AARON: Ooh! That's cool.

PETRO: Game-changer.

So, let's start with the kuih koci.

The ball's already been stuffed.

I'm not going to give you that much of a tip.

And you can be really generous

in the way that you oil down your leaf.

And in the recipe,

it will tell you to do this, which is true,

but it's kind of a little past.

Can you see what I'm saying? Ah, yep.

Now, once this ball is made,

you want to treat it like a present.

So, it's that...

..that...

We're really lucky to be seeing this demonstration from Poh.

But, again, it's sort of reinforcing

that this is going to be a very technical pressure test

because you never see demonstrations

for a pressure test.

And I'm going to show you the pleating on the karipap.

So, you seal it first

and then you have to use your thumb...

CONTESTANTS: Oh!

And it's kind of a sideways thing,

like, you use that side.

Yeah.

A lot of people go like this.

ANNABEL: Yeah. And you get a very dodgy pleat.

OK? Wow.

Make everything look so easy.

(LAUGHS)

(APPLAUSE) Yeah.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: You are a star, honestly.

Thank you. Wow, look at that.

One of the things that I'm really excited

about with this is that a lot of these skills

are getting lost.

And so, I really want to...

I don't have any kids, so I want to be able

to teach these skills, hand these skills on.

And I'm just really delighted...

Even though it's a sad day because someone's leaving,

I just really want

to teach these skills that I've learned.

Aaron, how are you feeling?

I'm feeling a bit emotional.

This is very, like, reminiscent of my po po.

Yeah.

I wish I learned all this when she was still around, you know?

It's alright, you get to learn it now.

Yeah. Like, she...

Yeah, she would have been very happy teaching me this.

She was trying, but I wasn't as dextrous

or into cooking back then. Mmm.

I was 15.

Yeah, this is very, very nostalgic for me.

No matter what happens,

you're gonna gain something today.

Yeah.

SOFIA: Alright.

You'll have three hours and 15 minutes

to recreate Poh's Malaysian snacks, in both look and taste.

The recipe and all the ingredients

are at your benches.

The cook whose dishes least resemble Poh's

will be leaving the competition.

Your time starts...

..now.

(APPLAUSE)

Go!

Vinnie, you want a snack? Yes, please.

OK, ready?

Straight up.

Thank you! (CHEERING)

Enjoy that, Vinnie. You earnt it.

(LAUGHS)

ANNABEL: Phwoar! This is all

very unfamiliar territory for me.

Um, never cooked with a lot of these ingredients.

Never cooked with a lot of these techniques.

Then 150 of tapioca starch.

But I went really well in the last pressure test,

so I was hoping that would give me momentum

to go into this one.

(WHISPERS) "Stir until smooth."

So, my strategy is measure twice, cut once.

Read the recipe.

Bit crazy. This is my first one,

so I'm just making sure that I'm reading everything

and not missing any steps

because that is crucial.

I am 100% at a huge disadvantage today.

I think, being in a pressure test,

you learn how to deal with the pressure,

the stress and following that recipe.

You alright, Petro? Yeah, mate.

I'm going to lock in.

I think the only way I can survive is working

as quickly as I can.

Poh's Malaysian snacks were absolutely delicious.

I loved them, and it's really special

for Poh to pass on her family traditions.

I know, you know, even in Greek traditions,

we get so complacent, just eating them all the time.

We forget that, you know,

it's actually important to learn how to make them.

I come from a very culturally rich background,

and I do have some special food traditions

with my yaya,

with both of them.

And, unfortunately, one of them passed away,

right after the family tree challenge.

And it was a big struggle

for me to get through those weeks and grieve

whilst being here.

So, it's going to be a really special cook because of that.

And I'm trying to suppress any added pressure I feel

because this is such a heartfelt cook now.

It's not just a normal pressure test.

So, I really hope I can do her snacks justice.

First thing I need to do is get onto my kuih lapis.

So, I need to get my basket on to steam,

and then make the mixture.

I've only done one pressure test so far,

and that was Sam Aisbett's mud crab salad.

So, I think there was lots of elements

that I nailed really well,

but I learnt a huge lesson from it,

and that was always follow the instructions.

The one instruction where I veered off

from what was written in front of me was a mistake

that almost sent me home.

Are you guys starting with the cake?

Is that what it is?

The steamed rainbow thing? Yeah.

Yeah. Kuih lapis.

Kuih lapis is definitely, like, a food that you are supposed

to play with.

Like, peeling back those layers was really fun.

And when I looked at Poh's kuih lapis,

every single layer was the same thickness.

So, I need to make sure that I'm measuring out

exactly the same amount in all these ramekins.

To make the kuih lapis batter, I'm mixing coconut milk,

tapioca starch, rice flour,

a bit of water and some vanilla.

I think because we've got to be very precise

with the colours, I want all of the bowls

to be, like, the same amount of weight.

So, if I can get about 90g of each, I'll be pretty happy.

Come on, guys.

This is like making up drugs in a cardiac arrest at work.

(BOTH LAUGH)

AARON: So far, so good.

I think. Yeah, it's kind of like arts and crafts.

(LAUGHS)

There's a lot of nostalgia and joy that's hitting me.

I've never attempted to make any of these dishes before.

Um, I've eaten them plenty, so I know what they taste like.

But the idea of actually, like, doing it, it's so special.

There are nine layers in this kuih lapis.

First layer is the first white layer,

and it has to steam for about four to seven minutes.

And here is where it's really important

to make sure that each layer is cooked,

because the batters would stick

to each other,

and you wouldn't be able to peel it.

My kuih lapis is cooking away,

and I'm making sure I get this right.

I'm being very careful.

I'm going off feel with my kuih lapis,

so I'm touching it as I go.

Feeling alright, Az?

Yeah...

The recipe calls for 4.5 minutes to cook each layer,

but what I'm finding is that it's taking more.

(TIMER BEEPS)

So I'm going to start on my order for my curry puff.

PETRO: I mix my mixture for my kuih lapis.

I've separated it into the nine bowls.

But I'm thinking, right now, maybe these need

to be absolutely perfect and even.

It's a bit hard to do nine completely by eye,

so I'm just going to be a touch more precise

and measure them out.

I'm looking around.

I've already fallen behind,

but I have to make sure that everything is precise

because precisions are so important when it comes

to a pressure test.

Drops of yellow.

I've just finished repouring my bowls,

and I need to put a different

amount of dye in each bowl,

and I have to be really precise,

but I've also got to pick up the pace a bit.

I've got blue, I've got purple,

I've got pandan, I've got yellow, I've got...

..orange and red.

VINNIE: What's wrong?

I'm missing a layer.

I'm not sure what I've done.

I'm meant to have nine bowls full.

I've only got eight.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven...

I'm starting to freak out.

I don't know what's happened.

I don't know which colour I'm missing.

POH: You should have nine. You should have nine bowls.

PETRO: I don't know why I've got eight. I think I...

POH: So, you're missing the pink?

You've got a white and you're missing a pink.

PETRO: Mm.

(SIGHS HEAVILY)

You've had 45 minutes. You have 2.5 hours to go.

VINNIE: Come on, guys.

(SIGHS HEAVILY)

Honestly not sure what I've done.

I'm not sure what I've done.

Is your cake in, Casper? Yep.

I have to make a decision, and I think

I'm just going to have to put up eight layers

instead of nine.

Purple, blue.

There's two white layers in this cake.

I'm just going to have to ditch one of them

so I can get all the other colours in.

I've got no option,

and I've just got to make it up with my other elements.

I need to steam that first layer

for my kuih lapis,

but I don't have time to read this recipe perfectly.

I've fallen short by not trusting my instincts.

I'm going to trust them

and push as hard as I can to not go home.

Alright, let's go fully off instincts here.

Poh, you've been watching these guys like a hawk.

What's happening out there? Very, very interesting.

So, I'm going to talk about Petro first.

He's definitely behind and he's got issues already.

So, with the kuih lapis, there's meant to be

nine bowls and he's missed one layer.

If he wants to survive this,

he cannot put a foot wrong anywhere else.

Casper. Casper is an interesting one.

You can tell he's going very slowly

because he's just trying to read

the recipe too thoroughly.

But he's tracking pretty well.

How's Aaron doing?

Aaron's going very well. And Annabel is smooth sailing.

They've both gone to the curry puff prep.

But I think the most challenging thing

will be the curry puff,

because that pastry is quite tricky to do.

Water through here.

I feel good at this point.

I think I've, like, gotten into the flow a little bit,

and I'm having fun.

Cooking that for 4.5 minutes,

and then we're just doing that for each colour.

VINNIE: Looks good, Annabel.

Green.

Between my kuih lapis layers steaming,

I'm trying to work

on my curry puff dough, as well.

I'm just about to start my lamination

for my spiral dough,

which has got these, like, fat dough and a water dough,

and then you get them together and you spiral them.

Hopefully, I can do that, too.

The curry puff dough is made up

of an oil dough and a water dough.

And I remember when I was eating

Poh's curry puff, like, you could see

it was like the eye of where

the flakiness started in the middle.

Like, you could see

the differential layers coming out.

I've never made this dough before -

never even heard of this dough before -

but I guess I'm kind of looking at it similarly to, like,

lamination of puff pastry.

To make sure that you do get,

like, real distinct layering of the two doughs,

we need to, basically, roll it out

into a 30 by 40 centimetre...

..and then roll it up into a giant cigar

and make four even indents with the rolling pin.

And then, I think you just roll it up

and then I'm, like, turning it into, like, a snail.

It didn't say the word 'snail' in the recipe,

but that's what it looks like to me.

So, I'm getting onto my curry puff filling now.

Hi, Annabel. Hello, Poh.

How are you going? Are you having fun?

I'm having fun. (LAUGHS)

I got a little... Like, especially all the colours,

I'm like, "Yay!" Oh! (LAUGHS)

Do you think your pressure test reminds you

a little bit of work?

Oh, 100%. I just said before,

I feel like, with the pipettes and everything,

I felt like I was, like, making up drugs

in, like, an arrest. Oh, right!

I was like, yeah, a little bit shaky,

but, like, there's no room for error.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've got to get it right.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

So, there is some kind of, like, affiliation

with your career, which gets you through.

100%. I like that, I like that.

Alright. Good luck.

I've given up a lot to be here, you know?

Like, I've got this awesome career

that has given me so much, which I have just,

like, put on hold to chase my dream.

And, like, being here,

it's like lit a fire within me that I'm like,

"OK, I definitely want a career in food."

and I do really want to be there at the end.

And that's not something that I, kind of, had envisioned

for a long time.

But I feel like now I can do this.

Let's go.

Like, let's take this all the way.

PETRO: Mm, needs a little bit more.

Not quite set.

That's it, Aaron. Come on.

Very good. Thanks, fella.

Stay sharp! You only have one hour and 55 minutes to go!

Come on, guys. Keep it up.

Aaron, let's go, mate.

I finally got one of the snacks done -

the kuih lapis -

it's looking really good. Everything feels right.

I've done my lamination of the spiral dough

for my curry puff.

I'm just working on the filling

for my curry puff at the moment.

Just trying to dice everything up, like,

really evenly.

Poh's filling was, like, unbelievably fragrant

and uniform, and, like, I'm trying to emulate that

so that I don't burst through the wrapper.

Guys, you really need to motor on.

You really need to be onto prepping

your curry puff filling by now.

ANNABEL: Oh! Come on, Annabel.

Oh!

Come on, guys, just keep pushing.

Come on! Quick up! Faster!

AARON: I can't hear anything else around me.

Everything just feels like a murmur or a mumble.

It feels comfortable.

It feels comforting, as well.

It's like... It feels like home,

like you're learning at home.

And it's, yeah, like, such a cool experience.

Pre-MasterChef, a lot of the food I was cooking wasn't

actually heavily influenced by Malaysian heritage.

But in the last three weeks,

I started to cook more Malaysian food.

Now I see how much importance there is

behind connecting to your own story,

connecting to your roots.

So I don't want to go home on a challenge like this.

I've got to push hard because this has to cool down.

I've got to fill it, fry it.

Um, still lots to do.

PETRO: It's taking forever to set.

Just going to have to roll with it.

I've still got a few layers to go here for my kuih lapis.

Now I've got my curry puff oil dough resting.

Now I'm getting onto my water dough.

So, I'm just measuring all the ingredients for that.

I'm making my water dough.

And this is the same as making, like, a shortcrust pastry.

I have made similar doughs,

and I feel like

those techniques I can apply here.

So I'm trusting my instincts

and it's coming together really, really quickly.

I'm hoping that I'm starting to catch up

because I did fall behind at the start.

That's done.

Um, I wouldn't say I'm, like, behind-behind yet,

but I'm feeling like time is catching up.

I've got my kuih lapis steaming away.

Now I'm getting started on my oil dough

and my water dough now for my curry puff.

Pressure tests remind me of when I used to work

in a bar and it would be service,

but I would still have prep to do

so I'd be, like, multi-tasking everywhere.

(ALARM BEEPS)

What's that, Casper?

But multi-tasking between my kuih lapis

and these two doughs is proving to be

a little bit complicated.

Are you alright, Casp?

It's maybe a bit too... Too wet?

..wet. Yeah.

As I'm looking at this dough,

it's almost looking more pizza dough than,

like, shortcrust dough

so I know that something has gone wrong.

It's like sticky and stretchy.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Are you alright?

Um...

I put too much water in my dough...

..so I'm feeling a bit nervous.

I think maybe, like, a touch too much water

in my dough.

I realised I didn't actually measure it out.

I, like... I put it in the jug

and I probably had way more than 100mls.

So, I just poured it in so it's like way too wet.

So, I'm just going to make that again quickly.

If you don't have your layers perfect,

you're not going to get the spiral

and you're not going to get the puff.

I think I just need to, like, find another gear

because I don't want to go home today.

This is looking much better.

OK, guys, this is where you have to dig deep.

You only have one hour to go.

Curry powder.

Come on, guys, you've got to keep going.

There's not long left.

ANNABEL: My curry puff dough is done.

My curry puff filling's done.

And now I need to assemble the curry puffs.

Whoo! OK.

VINNIE: Come on, Annabel. Doing good. Just keep going.

This curry puff has the most insane spiral pastry

I have ever seen

and, like, beautiful little crimping on the side

that looks like it's been done by a machine.

We have to cut 30-gram rounds of the dough,

roll it out, but maintain that that beautiful

little eye swirly thing is in the middle

because that's the most important thing.

And then we stuff our curry puff filling into it.

And now it's time to do

those beautiful, perfect folds that Poh had on hers.

We'll see how this goes.

There you go. Ooh!

Thank you, Auntie Poh. Good job.

AARON: Feeding the curry puffs, I feel as though

some sort of instinct kicks in

and I'm just like, "Oh, yeah, cool.

"I know how to do this."

I'm not too worried

about perfect crimping.

I'd rather that they're sealed.

Um, so, I've got my curry puff filling cooking

and now I'm going to, at the same time,

just get some of my laminations for my dough.

I think this is an area that I can, um,

catch up a little bit in if I can get this done

doing some multi-tasking.

There's a spiral in the pastry, that's a good thing.

I'm pretty happy with that.

I'm up to the kuih koci stuffing.

Another kuih.

Kuih koci is so fragrant

and I remember beautiful texture

because you get that sweetness, the saltiness.

There's, like, the texture of the coconut,

like a slight crunch, but it's tender.

So, to make the filling, I have to get

some pandan leaves, some palm sugar, coconut cream,

the desiccated coconut, as well,

cook that out and then I started the dough

for my kuih koci.

"Potato and water."

So, when it comes to the dough, I've eaten it.

It's a very familiar dough. It's like one of

those, like, rice dumplings that's really chewy.

You know, have it in a lot of Asian desserts.

You have to steam cubed sweet potato.

Then you have to blitz up pandan and water

and pass it through a muslin cloth

to make pandan water.

Combine it all with glutinous rice flour

and make it into a dough that kneads

until it's smooth but doesn't crumble.

I've eaten it in its cooked form,

I know what it feels like.

In its raw form,

I have no idea what I'm looking for.

I'm just relying on the fact that it feels right -

not too wet, not too dry -

going off the back of whatever instinct I have

and hoping that it's right.

It should all be coming together now.

30 minutes to go.

Come on, guys. Big push.

I feel like I'm in a little bit of a rhythm.

I did have a, you know,

a bit of a setback at the start.

But I got my kuih lapis setting.

Now I need to get on to my kuih kocis.

It is time to multi-task.

Nice, Petro. Keep going.

To make my kuih koci, I am skimming over that recipe.

I'm taking in as much as I need to,

and then, hopefully, I can use my instincts flavour-wise

and even texture-wise with the dough.

But I've never made anything like it.

Kuih koci stuffing is looking pretty good, I think.

Yeah, I've just got to make sure I get this right

and I cook everything out properly.

POH: Have you made any yet? Some here?

I've got one hiding under there.

Yeah. I think you need to power on

because you're definitely falling behind.

So, right now, I'm multi-tasking three things -

my curry puffs, my kuih koci filling

and my kuih koci dough.

Yeah, definitely multi-tasking a bit now.

My kuih koci filling is coming off,

like, it's looking pretty... Pretty good.

And then, one curry puff left to do

and then I'll get started

on frying my, um, curry puffs.

Guys, push, you don't want to be the one that goes home.

15 minutes to go!

SOFIA: We can do it!

AARON: My curry puffs are in the oil. I'm happy.

I know how to fry things, so I'm just gonna leave them there.

Onto the dough for my kuih koci. It's the right texture.

It's like this squishy, but like fun, sort of like...

It's green and it's, you know, it feels right.

It feels mochi-esque.

I need to steam them so that they cook through.

There's a lot to that.

There's flattening the dough, getting the filling,

putting it in, rolling it up, putting it in the banana leaf,

hoping that I can fold it perfectly.

That's it, Aaron, come on.

It is a tricky technique,

and it's like origami just to get the point

and have it all, like, tightly bound in that parcel.

So I want them to look as perfect as Poh's.

This dough, man. What's wrong with it?

It's just, like, really, like... Soft.

Yeah.

I'm frying my curry puffs.

I have just finished my kuih koci filling.

But my kuih koci dough,

that encases that beautiful coconut filling,

it was very soft and like really easy to kind of pull apart.

I'm like, to me, that's not what dough should be like.

This dough is just not working. It's, like, not changing.

I've been doing this for ages. Take a deep breath.

Just keep going, keep pushing.

I'm like adding flour to it

to like try and get the right consistency.

And I'm just like,

I don't even know what this is meant to be like.

Come on, Annabel, speed it up.

I know I'm spending too much time on it

and I know I don't have a lot of time,

but I don't want to do the wrong thing,

especially at this point in the cook.

Like, I feel like I've been going so well

and I really don't want to go home,

so I'm hoping it comes together soon.

You're alright, Annabel,

just work with what you've got, yeah?

I'm freaking out because Casper and Annabel

still have so much, like, experimenting to do

when they're folding those banana leaves,

and they need at least ten minutes to cook.

OK, yeah, so that leaves them, what,

all of three or four minutes?

Could you do it?

I could do it. OK, so it can be done.

It can be done. It can be done.

But I'm not reading instructions.

They'll be like backing and forthing.

Mm. Mm.

Guys, you really need to get a move on.

I'm really worried that you guys aren't going to finish up.

You have ten minutes left, and that's the amount of time

that you should be cooking your kuih koci for.

VINNIE: Come on, Annabel, faster!

It's definitely really hard to watch.

There's really not much time left,

and Casper and Annabel still don't have their kuih kocis

in the steamer.

These need time to cook and they don't have

their kuih koci wrapped.

Come on, guys, let's go. Speed it up!

If they don't get these in the steamer,

they won't have them on the plate at all.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. I'm so stressed.

Oh, my God.

CASPER: Time's almost up and I'm feeling really stressed.

My place in the competition is on the line right now.

If these kuih kocis don't have enough time to cook,

they might actually be undercooked.

And I'm going to be going home.

Come on, Cas, push, push.

(EXHALES)

I know that these kuih koci have gone in late,

but I just need to leave them in the steamer as long as I can.

And now I really need to get my kuih lapis cut

and arranged on the plate.

Ah, my dough...

I'm just, like, not familiar with,

like, what it's meant to be like.

So I just spent a bit of time trying to get it right,

but I don't have time, so I just need to crack on.

Come on, guys, let's go.

SOFIA: Must move faster.

Five minutes to go.

VINNIE: Come on, guys, keep pushing.

Last five.

ANNABEL: The recipe says we need four.

I've got two in the steamer

and I'm quickly just putting a third together.

But I'm, like, really behind.

Like, I will motor until the absolute end

before I accept any kind of defeat.

VINNIE: Come on, guys, you've got to keep going.

Not long left. Just get it out.

Make sure it gets on the plate.

AARON: Taking my curry puffs out.

I think they look beautiful. They're golden.

So now I need to tip the kuih lapis out of the tray

and start cutting it into this beautiful diamond shapes.

Poh's kuih lapis looked impeccable.

It's like she literally had a stencil

and that was the piece.

I need seven diamonds on the plate.

Cut it at a 45-degree angle

and try to get 3.5cm diagonally to make it look like a star.

I get my kuih lapis on the plate,

and the shape is coming together really nicely,

and I can see all the layers.

I have no idea how the kuih koci are cooked,

but I feel very grateful that I got to learn these techniques.

Hopefully I've done it justice.

Only three minutes to go. Allez, allez, allez!

VINNIE: Come on, guys, let's go.

PETRO: This is the home stretch.

There's no time left.

I quickly take the curry puffs out

and they are looking perfect.

They look beautiful, flaky, golden brown.

I couldn't be happier with them. I've always been bad at these.

I need to cut up this kuih lapis.

And I'm getting diamonds, but they're very rough.

I know my kuih lapis has major flaws,

and even though my kuih koci

don't look good at all,

I'm banking on the fact that what's inside is perfect.

I'm hoping that using my instincts and my gut

have kept me safe.

CASPER: The clock is counting down.

I'm arranging the diamonds on the platter,

and I think it's looking pretty good.

But I don't have time to worry about it

because I really need to get my curry puffs done.

But I realise my layers have separated on my curry puffs.

I just hope that they're held together enough

so that the filling isn't ruined.

VINNIE: Come on, guys,

you've really got to get it on the plate.

CASPER: I want to give these kuih koci

as long to cook as possible,

so I'm waiting for the countdown before I even take them out.

One minute to go.

ANNABEL: Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

So I've got my curry puffs on the plate and my kuih lapis,

I'm trying to arrange,

I'm trying to get these diamonds cut as neatly as possible.

Oh, my God.

Definitely doesn't look like Poh's.

Sort of looks like defined layers.

Come on, Annabel.

Don't forget... And your green things.

OK, OK, OK. I need to pull my kuih koci out,

and I'm just gonna have no idea how it's cooked.

Time's up in ten... JUDGES: Nine, eight, seven,

six, five... Hot!

..four, three, two, one.

That's it, everyone!

Oh, no! It looks so fugly.

Not good.

I feel like I was going really well, just until the end.

Anyway. That's annoying.

I really wanted that to be a really good pressure test.

I just feel like I couldn't get everything done in the time...

It's really disappointing,

especially when you're, like, so close to the end.

I wanted to try and make it to Finals Week,

but I have a feeling my time might be over.

CASPER: Good luck, Petro.

PETRO: I had a lot of hard decisions in this pressure test.

Making that mistake at the start was a huge setback,

but I decided that it wasn't going to rule me out.

SOFIA: Hi, Petro. Hello. How's it going?

How are you? I'm OK.

I'm hoping that using my instincts and my gut...

..have kept me safe.

It's a tough ask to do your first ever pressure test

when you're vying for that final four.

So you've done well, no matter what.

Thanks. Thank you.

We're going to taste your dish now.

Thanks, guys.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Thank you, Petro. Good luck. Yeah.

SOFIA: Thanks, Petro.

POH: On looks alone, I think this is quite rough.

The kuih koci are all in different shapes,

and there's a layer missing out of the kuih lapis,

and also it's been cut quite haphazardly.

I think the curry puff looks promising, though.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Mm-hm.

I'm looking forward to tasting those.

SOFIA: Let's unwrap these bad boys.

My favourite thing on Petro's plate is the curry puff.

It is brilliant. The seasoning is perfect.

The pastry is really crispy,

and I love the little puff layers he's got there.

Now kuih koci - shape was not great,

but really tasty filling and really good dough.

Kuih lapis was a mega problem.

They weren't cut very well and I've got, not just one,

but I think a couple of quite raw layers.

So two out of three. Mm.

Visually, we can see clearly there is

a little bit of differences

to your beautifully arranged display.

What attract me the most is the kuih koci.

I absolutely love that texture. You can enjoy the coconut.

It was just enough.

And that touch of salt which I was expecting to have.

Interesting to see whether two out of three

of your dishes in his recreation

is enough to keep him in the competition.

We just don't know yet.

Good luck, mate.

Thanks, guys.

Hi, Aaron. Hello.

Aaron.

I'm quite anxious about bringing the dish in today

to be judged because it being a Malaysian challenge,

you know, being from my heritage,

you know, I honestly, I'd be embarrassed for myself

if I went home on a Malaysian challenge.

I want to make Poh proud, my mum and my grandma.

I want to make them proud to show that I could do this.

I really did it well.

SOFIA: Aaron, how was that? It was really stressful,

but I'm really grateful that I got to learn this today.

Oh, Aaron, that's so nice.

Yeah, like honestly, for me,

I'm like this is like priceless heritage.

By the way, I've won a lot in this competition.

And, you know, I really don't want to go home,

but if that's the case today,

I'm just, I'm really happy that I got to learn this.

Thank you, Aaron, we're gonna taste your dish.

Thank you.

Thank you, Aaron, well done.

SOFIA: Well, what do you reckon, guys?

POH: Pretty good. Pretty good. Look at this.

That's... That's... Look how tight those are.

I think they're perfectly triangular.

Look at this.

Oh, satisfying.

Perfect layers. Yeah.

I think Aaron's done a fantastic job.

His kuih lapis, it's cooked all the way through.

The layers are all so even

and definitely passed the peel test.

They taste lovely, full of that coconutty flavour.

Kuih koci is cooked all the way through

and his shapes are pretty spot-on.

The flavour of the coconut is lovely.

Curry puff - he's cooked it really well.

The crimping is beautiful.

I really enjoyed peeling the perfect triangular package

of that banana leaf wrapped around this lovely dough

of the kuih koci and the filling of the spiral curry puff -

it's really fragrant and rich.

I'm so happy for Aaron

that these dishes that he has a memory of,

but no experience making, has been so successful.

I think that boy is going to go very far.

CASPER: Good luck, Annabel.

ANNABEL: I'm feeling lots of different emotions.

My heart's beating in my throat, which I've never had before.

I know that kuih koci

is going to be inconsistently and undercooked.

Like it was in the steamer for five minutes.

Hey. Hi, Annabel.

Hi. How are you?

I just hope that this bad cook is not my ticket out of here,

but I'm definitely having to come to terms

that that might be a possibility.

Annabel, how was that?

That was really great and really fun,

until the last ten minutes. Until it wasn't.

Until it wasn't.

Which bits of your dish are you particularly worried about?

The kuih koci for sure.

I basically threw them on the plate

and they look a bit battered and bruised.

There's only three and I am really worried.

I think this potentially could send me home,

and I sort of am trying really hard to,

like, grapple the emotion

of like being really proud of how far I've come,

but obviously really don't want to go home at this point.

Like, I would love to stay

because I definitely want to explore a career in cooking.

There's definitely a fire that's lit within me.

Look, Annabel, we're going to taste your food.

Thank you so much. Good luck.

Thank you, Annabel.

Thank you. All the best. Thank you.

I think Annabel's done a very reasonable job.

I think the curry puffs look beautiful.

Let's have a look at the kuih koci.

I have a feeling hers is going to be the most raw.

'Cause she had the least time in the steamer.

That's pretty bad. That's...that's quite...

That's completely under, isn't it?

Like, it's a big chunk of under.

Yeah.

There are some obvious flaws with Annabel's snacks.

The most glaringly obvious one for me is the kuih koci.

You can see that almost a third is undercooked dough.

And it's a shame because her filling is lovely.

It's really rich.

It has all of those salty, coconutty, palm sugar flavours.

And then the kuih lapis,

you can see that orange layer melting into the red.

It's still pasty.

I can't actually pull the top layers

away from each other.

And it's a shame because she was going so well.

This kuih koci, sadly to say, it's under steamed,

but the curry spiral pastry

is absolutely, for me, phenomenal.

It's very well fried.

The feeling is just perfect.

The potatoes are lovely and cooked.

And I get the curry. I love this lovely curry lemon.

She's crimped those. It is unbelievably good.

It's the best example of the crimping.

It's a great curry puff.

But both the kuihs are definitely very flawed.

The inconsistency worries me. I'm worried.

I'm worried for Annabel.

CASPER: Today's cook was definitely more challenging

than I thought it would be.

There's a lot of skill involved

with juggling multiple tasks at the same time,

especially when they're components

that you've never tried before.

Hi, Casper. Hello.

There is doubts in my mind around cook on the kuih koci

and how my layers have separated on my curry puffs.

Casper, how was that pressure test for you?

Are you pleased with the result?

Um, I'm pretty pleased, I would say.

Considering there's a few steps where I fell behind,

I think I managed to catch up pretty well.

Like, I found that second gear when I needed to.

If you do go home today, how would that feel?

I think that would be the hardest one

like, in terms of elimination, when you could go.

It's, like, just missing that, like, last week,

It would be, it'd be a tough pill to swallow.

Thank you, Casper. We're gonna taste now.

Thanks, Casper. Thanks, guys.

Well done. Thank you.

I do spot an issue. The curry puff pastry,

if it's not been laminated strongly enough,

that could very well taste very oily.

It's probably filled with oil.

Yep. They've all got a little crack in them,

so that's a problem.

Not good.

I think he's done a great job on the kuih lapis.

The layers are peeling off really well.

On appearances, the curry puff looks great,

but on closer inspection,

a lot of that lamination has come apart

and a lot of oil's entered into all those crevices.

So when you bite into it,

I'm getting oil oozing out of the pastry,

which is a little bit unpleasant.

Look, I think he has potentially done

one of the better jobs of the kuih lapis.

When it comes to the kuih koci,

the filling is... It's the right consistency

and I just, I love those fibrous shredded coconut.

He's done a decent job of the dough around the edges,

but he definitely hasn't cooked it for long enough,

which is a shame.

I agree the koci dough

was maybe a touch under steam on there.

What is the bottom of yours like?

Just a little bit under steam. Just a touch.

Yours isn't as bad. But in all, it's tasty.

I love the coconut filling.

It's not too sweet.

This lovely kuih lapis.

I think he's done a very lovely job.

In all, I am very satisfied.

My goodness, you did me so proud.

I've been wanting to create

a Malaysian-style pressure test for the longest time,

and watching you guys move around

was just so meaningful to me,

to see the desire in your eyes and in your movements...

..to do honour to the recipes.

And I think, no matter what happens today,

you absolutely all did justice to my Malaysian snacks.

Put your hands together for Poh Ling Yeow.

Come on.

With three snacks to plate up and nowhere to hide,

there were some significant challenges.

And, sadly, two of you had faults in your dishes.

Annabel...

..you showed excellent technique on the curry puffs.

However, the layers of your kuih lapis

were undercooked and pasty...

..and the dough in all your kuih koci

was cooked inconsistently.

Casper, you did a great job on the kuih lapis.

But your kuih koci was undercooked on the bottom.

And your curry puff lamination had flaws in it.

It was a very difficult decision.

It came down to the one

who had the biggest errors.

I'm sorry to say that was you...

..Annabel.

Unfortunately, your time in the competition

has come to an end.

That's OK.

It's good. I'm glad that you didn't go.

Oh, no. (LAUGHS)

You got me going now as well.

Oh, man. Once I start, I can't stop.

Annabel, it's such a, like...

..bitter sweet experience

for me today to be able to...

Sorry. ..design that challenge

and to have to see one of you go.

Yeah.

It has been so wonderful getting to know you

and see you flourish in the kitchen.

(SIGHS)

Thank you.

I actually don't even know where to start.

Being here has just been like a dream

that I've had for a really long time.

And I think only just in the last few weeks,

I really realised and took some time to reflect on

kind of how amazing it was

that I was, like, standing here in this position.

So that's kind of been a real priceless moment in my life.

And I will treasure this kitchen,

like, and everything that comes with it.

Sadly, Annabel, it's time to say goodbye.

I'm so proud of where I've come.

And I've proved already to myself

that, like, coming in every day, learning so much,

putting yourself under such immense pressure,

I can do this.

At least I won the women's league.

Yeah. Oh.

I am going to go back to work as a nurse

because I actually have been really missing it.

But I am going to then

have a tough conversation with my boss

and be like, "Hey, can I drop down my hours

"so that I can also become a chef?"

And I'm going to be a nurse-chef. (LAUGHS)

If that's... And if that's not a thing,

I'm just going to make it a thing.

BOTH: Give it up for Annabel! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

I had a bloody ripper time.

I am sad it's over.

But it's just the beginning.

ANNOUNCER: Sunday night on MasterChef Australia...

The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle!

It's a fairytale moment...

What is happening? ..for everyone.

I love incredible produce and farm-to-table.

Really excited for this.

Thank you so much. Good luck, Aaron.

Like, what is my life?

And one of these amazing contestants

will get their happy ending

with a spot in the semifinal.

Rubbing my temples

because I can't understand

how this is so good.

Captions by Red Bee Media