Original subtitles

Previously on MasterChef Australia...

(ALL EXCLAIM) Oh, my God! Are you serious?

It was Adriano Zumbo's toughest pressure test yet.

Polly want a waffle.

I'm out. I'm out.

Alvin nearly flew the coop, but he pushed through.

JOCK: This Zumbo dish won't be sending you home today.

(APPLAUSE)

And it was Dulan whose MasterChef dream came to an end.

(CHEERING)

Tonight...

Your time starts now.

Let's go!

..they're off and running on a team relay.

WOMAN: Team relay challenges, they're always hectic.

But will their communication

cause them to fall before the finish line?

WOMAN: I start thinking, "What do I do? What do I do?"

And later...

Please welcome. (APPLAUSE)

It's the first masterclass of the season.

Today we're doing wood-fired mackerel

with a charred tomato sambal.

And...

Oh, you're kidding me!

..Jock and Andy take on a mystery box of their own.

He's sweating. Is that normal?

(LAUGHTER)

# 'Cause you're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down

# You're wrong when it's right

# It's black and it's white

# We fight, we break up

# We kiss, we make up

# You're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down

# You're wrong when it's right

# It's black and it's white

# We fight, we break up

# We kiss, we make up

# You # You don't really wanna stay, no

# You # But you don't really wanna go-o

# You're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down. #

ALVIN: It's a bit fresh.

I feel a bit fresh.

HARRY: Can you believe it?

I don't think we can...

Look at where we are.

What is it gonna be?

Whoo-hoo!

Good morning! Come on down.

ANDY: Clap 'em in.

Straight to the gantry for those two.

MELISSA: So good. What a good feeling.

Morning, everybody.

ALL: Morning!

Here we go.

Hoo-hoo-hoo!

Today is a team challenge.

But of course, it's not just any team challenge.

It is the classic MasterChef relay.

(GROANS AND CELEBRATIONS)

As soon as they say relay, just flashbacks in my mind.

I have not done one.

Like, there wasn't a relay challenge in my season.

Alright. No messing about.

We need four teams of five.

Fans, there's only nine of you.

So that means that one favourite is going to join you today.

ALL: Ohhhh!

Shall we?

We shall.

As a fan, I've watched a few MasterChef relays

and they're always hectic.

Yelling at the TV always happens.

Like, it's a must for team relay challenges.

Look away.

Was that a peek?

Excuse me!

That was a deadset peek! Cheeky!

Looking in the eyes. Looking in the eyes.

Ooh, ooh! Ooh!

We're matching.

There's still a green one in there.

Yes. There's still a green one in there.

(ALL EXCLAIM)

Here it is. Lucky me. Unlucky me. I've got no idea.

But I've got the green apron.

That means I'm heading over to join the Fans.

Hi, team!

Girl Power team today is awesome.

I think we're just going to have so much fun.

Mindy is a powerhouse.

She's also super, super calm in the kitchen.

So doing handovers and stuff like that,

I think she'll just absolutely gun it.

She'll be great.

Righto. Here we go.

On the green team, we've got Montana, Ali, Steph, Harry and Mindy!

On the relay team for purple we have Max, Jenn, Matt

Keyma, and Big Daniel.

Big Daniel!

Righto, red team, we have...

..Christina, Tommy, Sashi, Sarah and John.

And finally, on the grey team, we have Minoli, Alvin, Julie, Billie

and Michael.

Round of applause.

John, you have massive history in relays.

Yep. Let's, uh, let's find out what happened. Tell us about it.

Well, I went into the cook, and when I got there,

there was basically nothing in the broth.

So I thought, well, I could probably change this.

And that weekend, I was practising the white chocolate veloute.

But that was so yesterday.

Like, I mean...

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

That was so yesterday. And...

But wait till you see what's under here.

ALL: Ohhhhh!

Oh, poor John.

John's copped a lot over the years for the white chocolate debacle,

but he's moved on, and hopefully everyone else has, too.

Alright, let's get down to business.

Your team will have 75 minutes in total to complete your dish.

That's 15 minutes allocated to each cook.

You will also have a 45 second handover between each cook.

JOCK: Heaps of time.

Now, the team that cooks the best dish today

will join Aldo and Melanie on the gantry

in tomorrow's immunity challenge.

I would love nothing more than to go into that immunity cook,

and to take in a whole team and not just yourself is a massive deal.

Your team can cook whatever you like,

but your finished dish must hero whatever is under here.

Have a little huddle and decide your team captain.

You want to go first? Captain Julie? Yeah.

JULIE: I put my hand up to be team captain.

This means I'm going first.

This is kind of like what I do in my cooking schools.

If I'm going to teach a recipe, I get all the ingredients out

and I get everything ready and it's all very orderly.

So maybe John can be the first person.

Yeah. Yep. I can be the last person.

Everyone's looking at me and they want me to be team captain.

So in my job as a flight attendant, I'm always working in a team.

I know I can do this because I've got excellent communication skills

and I'm actually a great team leader,

so I'm going to go with this.

OK.

JOCK: Alright, hands up, captains, and keep them up.

So, Harry and the green team, Matt and the purple team,

John and red, Julie and grey.

Everyone else, see you later.

Out to the garden.

OK, guys.

(ALL OFFER ENCOURAGEMENT)

Let's go, green team!

Righto, you four.

You ready to find out what your hero ingredient is?

ALL: Yep. Let's do it.

It's...chilli! It's chilli.

Yes. Alright.

OK. Yep.

Harry, you're wigging out. What's going on?

There's just so many possibilities.

I was hoping to be bottlenecked just a little bit more... Right.

..with maybe a protein or something, that would be easy to go with.

But... Why would we make it easy?

Julie, did you know that it was going to be chillies?

Just noticed that you've got chilli...chilli earrings, Julie.

Oh, my God!

Oh! Oh, I universed this.

Sorry, guys.

That might be a sign, Julie.

Right? Could be. Chilli earrings.

You ready? Because your time starts now.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

I like this. I like the little chilli grab.

The bird's eyes are getting murdered.

MELISSA: OK, long green chillies - fantastic.

Chilli crossover here.

Gonna need rice.

Oh, here we go. Got it. Got it.

Got it. Got it.

I think the hard thing about a team relay

is keeping the clarity of an idea through five different cooks.

My dish that I have in mind is a Thai chicken curry.

I've got to hero chilli.

So I'm going to put chilli in the curry paste, obviously.

But I'll also have some milder chillies cut through

as part of the body of the curry.

What I want to have ready is the Thai curry paste

and everything's set out in its elements, ready to go.

The winning team today gets to fight for immunity.

I've just been through an elimination.

I don't want to go through another one.

I would love a chance at immunity.

MELANIE: Go, Matt! ALDO: Go, Matt!

Ooh, wings.

Haz, I'm keen already.

Go, John.

Good old fashioned relay, hey? Yeah, we're back, baby.

We're back.

Can I just say, heroing chilli. Is this really going to trip them up?

It could do.

I think it really could do, because, of course,

chilli can be in some great dishes from all around the world.

But to hero a chilli, different thing entirely.

MELANIE: Yeah. Good thinking, Matt. Yum.

Flavours are different in chillies. Yeah.

Some chillies are better, you know, in terms of heat scale.

Yeah.

I'm willing to bet there's probably going to be a lot of curries.

Yep. Yep.

But that's also the one that I think they're going to struggle

making chilli the hero. Same.

I reckon it's danger zone because there's chillies

with a lot of other stuff in there. Exactly, yeah.

I mean, jalapenos, you could go sort of Tex-Mex style.

All sorts of fun things. Yep. Yeah.

The odd jalapeno popper.

The one thing I really know and love about chillies is that adding them

at different times during the process of cooking

can also layer the kind of the heat and the dynamics of chilli as well.

So I wonder if people will play with it

on that sort of intellectual scale.

Well, I think the name of the game is chillies,

whether it is with multiple heat levels or, you know, more subtlety,

but kind of still in your face.

We want to see how these guys can hero

these epic, fresh Australian chillies.

Can't wait. Absolutely.

JOHN: God, I'm shaking.

In season seven, we did a relay and I tried to change a dish

into a white chocolate veloute.

Johnny, what are you doing!?

Why are you doing a white chocolate veloute with a coconut broth?

They set it up with a broth, with a mussel broth.

So I'm doing a white chocolate veloute.

Johnny!

I thought it was going to work, but then unfortunately, it didn't.

I just want to fix the mistake that I did in the past.

Sorry. Don't worry. Don't worry, mate.

I'm here to prove that I can actually work in a team.

So I'm starting.

I don't have that opportunity to change the dish,

so this will be my redemption dish.

I'm cooking a Sri Lankan chicken curry.

Feeling pretty good because I've got three of my team members

that actually love cooking curries.

I just need to really remind them that it's a chilli

that we're heroing.

John.

Jock. How are you, mate?

I'm good. I'm all shaky.

Oh, don't be shaky. Tell me your dish. What are you making?

So I'm doing a Sri Lankan chicken. Yep.

So using the green long chillies to go in that. Yep.

And then I'm going to have a chilli jam and also a pickle

to sort of balance out the sweetness.

I've gotta ask.

You weren't tempted in any way to do chilli chocolate today?

No, no, no.

Stay away from it.

I can't wait to taste this one. Sounds cool. Thank you.

Good luck.

I want this chilli jam to cook pretty much

through the entire challenge.

You have to be careful with chilli jams because the sugar can actually

overcaramelise and burn.

The next person will have to put in the chicken into the pot,

add all the spices and basically get the curry started.

ALDO: Go, John.

What's that one like? Is it hot? Nah.

There's a lot of pressure on the team captains today.

I'm going to do chilli chicken wings

with a really beautiful, fragrant chilli rice.

Massive, punchy chilli sauce,

and then a chilli and crunchy Thai basil on the top.

In the end, I'd love for this dish to be a big pile

of sticky brown chicken wings with a really yummy, spicy sauce,

beautiful fluffy rice and some nice herbs on top with that green chilli

to create some kind of, like, fresh crunch as well.

ALSO: Matt, how are you going? Yeah. Good.

Good.

Matt. Matt, I think I know where you're going with this.

And I'm excited, but also scared.

Yes.

Tacos. Tacos.

These beautiful chillies.

These fresh chillies are the ones we're featuring today.

How will they be heroed?

So at the moment, I'm roasting off, like, a chilli salsa in the oven. Beautiful.

And these, they got a nice flesh to them.

They could almost be a filling in a taco in themselves.

Sure. Almost like a cactus. Yeah. OK.

Yeah. Maybe mix it with some spices.

As much as it's all about chilli... Yes.

..a good taco is all about the tortilla.

True. Yes.

But a good tortilla, it is absolute paramount to a good taco. This is true.

Otherwise, it's just a pile of chillies on a plate.

I know there's some risk involved.

I'm confident I know how to make a corn tortilla.

I don't know if the next person is going to know.

So I want to make sure it's measured there for them,

because I think if it's a dough, most people will be able to figure out

the process of turning it into a tortilla.

(COUGHS)

It's got chilli.

ALSO: Go, guys. Come on.

MELANIE: Good thinking to use the rice cooker, Haz.

Be easier for the next person.

As much as there's strategy in here,

I reckon out there, they'd be going,

"OK, so, you're going to go second. You're going to go third."

So who's going next? Who is it going to be?

That last person, really important to taste everything together.

Yeah, for sure.

I have a feeling gonna be me.

ANDY: I'm going to throw that out the window.

JOCK: Oh! MELISSA: Wow.

Let's put our strength to the dish and hero the ingredient.

The bulk of the work is going to be on two, three and four.

Uh-oh. Oh, gosh.

Hey, guess what. I know you've been strategising.

I'm about to turn it on its head.

Guess who's cooking next?

Whoever's closest to the door from each team.

Oh, my God.

Let's go.

Alright, let's do it, guys!

(APPLAUSE)

(ALL OFFER ENCOURAGEMENT)

Thank you.

OK. Tell me, what's the hero ingredient?

Chilli.

I'm doing a Sri Lankan chicken curry.

I'm doing a chilli jam, so chop up chillies.

Yep, chop up chillies. Straight in there, and then just reduce it down.

Yeah. OK.

So we're doing chilli chicken wings. Yep.

The key ingredient is chilli.

Sauce. Go wild.

Spicy, spicy, spicy. OK, OK.

The hero ingredient is chilli.

So we need to have, like, chillies in the taco as a main ingredient.

Corn tortilla.

Got the corn here. Got the beef in there.

That's what I'm adding to it.

JULIE: OK. We're doing a Thai chicken curry. Uh-huh.

Chicken here to be cut. Yep.

Paste there. Done.

Just needs a bit more blitzing. That needs to be cooked together.

So curry paste the chicken in there. Yep, yep.

You good with that? I'm good with that.

Butcher the chicken. And get it on if you can.

This dish is achievable in this time.

Alright.

So I feel like I've done a good job, I've been really clear,

I've told Minoli exactly what's going on with the recipe

and what to do next.

I go into the locker room feeling quietly confident,

and then I realise that I didn't tell her

that the hero ingredient was chillies.

Alright.

45 seconds handover has gone without a hitch.

Alright, I'm ready.

I'm heroing the chicken today.

I'm gonna have a look around because she didn't actually say.

I don't see chicken on anyone else's benches. (LAUGHS)

Chilli, chilli, chilli.

I need to still figure out what we're heroing. (LAUGHS)

And I'm looking at the other teams while I debone this to figure out

what the hell I'm meant to be doing.

(MAN SIGHS)

So lovely.

BILLIE: So today is a team relay challenge.

Gonna have a beer tonight or what? Yes. Yes.

It's just lovely out here in the garden.

It's calm and peaceful.

We're getting too relaxed out here.

So I'm just wondering

whether that's the case inside that MasterChef kitchen.

Let's go. Come on, guys!

What did that chilli do to you, Mindy? Jeez.

This is tricky, eh?

I need to still figure out what we're heroing.

And I'm looking at the other teams while I debone this to figure out

what the hell I'm meant to be doing.

I've just had my 45 second handover with Julie.

I know what the dish is.

But the problem is, I don't know what the hero ingredient is.

This is the point of this challenge.

And there are three people after me.

This is not good.

JULIE: This is so stressful!

Yeah! (LAUGHS)

Ah.

Oh, my gosh.

I see it.

I see the table filled with chillies.

The penny has literally just dropped and I figured out that

I am heroing chillies.

I just need to make sure that this dish is hot.

DANIEL: Oh, what am I doing?

Matt's left me with not a great deal here.

Which is tricky.

I think we're gonna be making tacos.

We've got to feature some chillies.

I think I'm gonna try and throw together sort of like a...

..salsa verde style thing, yeah.

That's gonna be what I've got to do, I suppose.

G'day, Jock. How are you?

I'm good, mate. I'm...good.

45 second handover. Was it enough? Nah.

No? Clear as mud?

Clear as mud, yeah. Pretty well... What's the dish?

I believe we're doing tacos. OK.

So yeah, and we also have some other...some chilli...sorry...

Some tomato, some onion, some other stuff that's in the oven,

just roasting away,

and I believe I'm gonna put it all together in a blender

sort of like a salsa verde type thing.

OK.

My job is I think to try and sort of I suppose...

Oh, sort of put it in a bit more of an organisation,

because he's only had a little bit of time to grab what he needed to get going.

Feels very much like you got handed over into a feeling of confusion.

Yeah. Absolutely.

You don't want that for the next cook, right.

So think about what you're gonna say in that 45 seconds.

Start organising. Yeah.

I'm just fixated on Dan. (LAUGHS)

There wasn't much time to get feedback from Daniel

during the 45 seconds.

He was nodding along.

Looking a little bit confused, to be honest.

Oh, he's gonna put them in the blender.

No, don't put them in the blender.

I can see Daniel's putting the roasted chillies into the salsa,

which they really weren't intended for.

Oh, he's put the peppers in there.

My idea was that the roasted chillies would kind of replace

the protein.

Like, the filling.

I'm a bit lost with what's actually going in these tacos.

I've honestly forgotten what Matt's told me.

I've gone all blank.

Figured I may as well put some steak in there to fill it

and we'll just figure out the rest as we go.

I feel like the roast chilli filling I did to hero the chillies

has just been lost completely.

Looks like we're having steak now instead.

Turning this down just a little.

Yep, we've got this. John's set us up for a really good dish.

Super clear with his instructions

so I'm just going to continue to work on this curry and we're good.

Sorry, John, if this isn't the right order.

Look, I have to admit,

this girl has not made a lot of curries in her life.

I'm totally sticking with John's Sri Lankan curry.

I am not making any changes whatsoever.

Just going to do what I'm told.

Just gonna sit that there and let that brown off a little bit.

So John's already started with the base of the chilli jam,

so he already has the liquid going.

Gonna put some ginger in this jam too.

Ginger and garlic.

Did you say ginger and garlic? Shouldn't you be saying "Chilli and chilli"?

Chilli, chilli, chilli. I just don't want it to be chilli, chilli, chilli. So...

Pickled chilli sauce?

No, it's a chilli jam. Chilli jam.

Yeah, so that's why I want to put a little bit garlic in...

Chilli jams are usually quite sweet.

We're still featuring and heroing chilli?

So we're also going to be doing a pickled chilli as well

and we've got the curry going.

My biggest thing is just to continue what John's doing

and communicate what's happening to the rest of the team.

OK. Alright. So just making sure that... Yep.

Not long now to go, so just keep focusing.

OK, thank you.

Ooh!

How fun is this, hey?

Go, Mindy, go!

I love Harry. She's a rockstar at communication, right?

Harry's got plenty organised today.

She's got everything laid out for what we have to,

and I think that's a really good way to the team set up.

Everyone's got a section to do and we need to nut it out.

Am I gonna get more chillies in this?

Chilli sauce.

My job in this 15 minutes is to be the workhorse for our team.

I'm getting the chicken wings marinated, the rice organised,

get the sauce on, then I know for my remaining team members,

all they have to do is come in, adjust the flavours,

do the garnishes and we should be on track.

I'm gonna get a really banging sweet chilli sauce on,

which is really gonna be the thing that I think really takes this to the next level.

Come on, Mindy!

It would be awesome to win today.

That means our whole team would get through to the immunity challenge.

Yes, Mindy.

We all want that so we're gonna have to push hard.

Second. I wasn't expecting it.

I was expecting to wrap it up,

but I reckon I can probably get a lot of work done.

I'm used to working under pressure

and I'm used to doing a lot of cooking in high-volume,

so I reckon it's probably playing to our advantage.

Oh, she's good. She's fast.

MELANIE: Bash it. Bash it!

Two legs down, three to go, and 45 minutes left on the clock.

Let's go.

(APPLAUSE)

Shall I? Do it.

If it's a nut dish, Matt might choose to do, like, a crusted lamb. Yep, yeah.

Go in there calm, hero ingredient,

what the elements are, what I need to do.

Hey, gang. On team again.

So, this time...

Why are you about to stand up?

'Cause we're gonna go the furthest from the door.

Knew it.

Let's go.

Good luck, Jenn. Thanks, guys.

Go, Sashi!

No worries.

Running through the doors, I see Minoli and I see the bench

and it is chaos.

Ohh!

This is what I come to expect from Minoli, but it's delicious chaos.

What's the ingredient? OK, so it's chillies.

Oh, awesome. Awesome. Listen, we're making a green chicken curry...

A Thai curry, sorry.

I've added in coconut milk, coconut cream.

Just need to balance.

Got to give it chilli, right? Make sure chilli is the number one.

Chilli number one. Get the rice on.

Chilli chicken wings, right?

They need to go in.

You get them in.

I got the chilli sauce on.

I've got candied chilli there.

It needs to scream chilli.

Chilli is the hero ingredient. Ohh.

So we're doing a Sri Lankan curry. That's a chilli jam.

I was just starting a pickle to do a chilli pickle as well.

So these are all roasted. We've got some more roasted stuff here.

That's gonna go in there, right? Yep.

I figure we'll do it with some little bits of steak and maybe...

And I've also got...

Oh, chillies are the thing.

I can see Dan is a little bit panicked, a little bit frantic.

He is telling me a lot of information.

He's sort of jumping a little bit and I am struggling to understand.

Yep, salsa verde.

Steak, seasoned, just for the taco.

This is the tortilla, and I figured we could pickle these.

Do you know how to do that? Yep.

Quickly, about the steak, do you want me to cut them up first?

No, no... Who do you want?

Uh...

Come on, Dan. You got this. Be confident.

This handover to Jenn is just hectic.

Is that the sauce? Or is that the salsa verde?

Do you want me to make the salsa verde?

I said to everyone that we need to focus on positive comms here,

and I kind of stitched her up a bit.

I'm sorry, Jenn.

Is that what you wanted?

I was gonna put those roasted peppers as the filling.

I think we're doing steak tacos.

I'm definitely a little bit lost.

I feel like a deer staring at the headlights.

I'm worried I've sort of set Jenn on a bit of a bum steer.

Jenn looks just as lost as I was.

I've just reciprocated this bloody chaos onto her.

Ooh, that's a confused face.

I think Daniel said we're gonna do a roasted salsa and a salsa verde.

The roasted salsa is not green.

So I assume that's not the salsa verde

and I think he wants me to make a new sauce,

so that's what I'm gonna go with.

Jenn, just check the oven when you get a sec as well.

I check the oven and there is a beautiful plate of caramelised vegies.

I have a feeling she's gonna throw that in the salsa verde.

I think they're meant to go in the sauce.

I'm just gonna chuck them in.

Oh, no.

At this point, I'm a little bit nervous

because I know there's a lot going on.

It's not how I envisioned it and I obviously haven't tasted anything.

So yeah, it's worrying.

MELANIE: Go, Sashi, go.

We are doing a Sri Lankan curry.

I think John has done an amazing job in putting the spices in

so I don't have to meddle with the spices.

There's a chilli jam, pickled liquid going on.

Just follow the direction of the guy who started off.

Do not change anything, do not meddle with anything.

Come on, Sashi.

My main focus is going to be on the curry.

The spices are good.

I'm gonna let it reduce a little bit more.

I think the next person needs to make sure the chicken is cooked,

chilli is prominent in the curry.

The jam needs to be finished.

And I'm gonna set up the garnishing and all that for them,

so that when they come in

they've got less things to do.

He's focused. Yeah.

He knows what he's doing.

Timer. Is there a timer?

MICHAEL: I think it's fun, yeah.

I mean, it's definitely gonna show off chilli, it definitely shows off chilli.

So now it's about elevating it and really show the chillies off

in a nice, interesting way.

The thing I pick out most in the handover is build layers of flavour

with chilli.

That's something that Minoli is really good at and she started,

so that's what I'm gonna have to continue in my cook now.

Gonna make a really quick pickled chilli as well,

just to add another chilli element and texture to the dish.

And hopefully there will be enough heat,

enough layers of chilli flavour to impress the judges

and get to cook tomorrow.

In my role as a development chef,

I spend a lot of time focusing on single ingredients and how to improve them or add value to them.

So I think a little chilli pickle on top will give us that chilli hit,

but a really nice fruity, fragrant element as well,

and a nice crunchy yet soft texture.

Not traditionally Thai but very delicious.

Michael has got his head screwed on.

Calm as a cucumber. Yes.

Cool as a cucumber. Yes.

Calm as your farm. (LAUGHS) Calm and cool. (LAUGHS)

Montana, can someone help me open this?

Thank you so much.

Did you tell her about the tacos?

Yeah, yeah. Does she know where they are?

She should do, yeah.

The other thing that's concerning is

the tortilla dough hasn't been touched.

Jenn hasn't looked at it.

I have absolutely no idea how to make tortillas.

Um...

I know at some point Keyma is gonna be joining in the cook.

She is a tortilla expert. I'm gonna leave it to her.

I just need someone to go and roll those tacos out.

Time to spice things up. 30 minutes to go!

More chilli.

I thought you'd never ask, Melissa.

We just need to go in there with a clear, clear mind. Yeah, that's fine.

We've got it, we've got it.

I hope I'm next, because if it's savoury your plating will be better than mine.

Well, hello.

So, guess what we're gonna do now. What?

We're going alphabetical order for the next one.

Sarah. Keyma. Oh, my God.

Alvin and Ali.

Let's go.

See ya. Oh!

Were you planning either way? Yes, we were.

Sashi. Tell me. Oh, my gosh. OK. OK. So, chilli.

Chilli is the hero ingredient.

A Sri Lankan curry. Yep.

Rice, chilli pickle. OK.

Wings, salad, and sauce.

Thai chicken curry. Yep.

I've made some pickled chillies and it's all about garnish.

I've got some Thai basil, so I'm thinking some pickled chilli,

some fresh chilli.

We're heroing chillies.

My cook has just flown by.

I haven't accomplished much.

I'm a little bit worried

because I've left a lot of work for the last two members of my team.

This is a roast chilli sauce.

This is a chilli salsa verde.

Pickled chillies down here, they're finished. That little sleeve.

At this point,

I am a little bit confused with what the end dish is meant to look like.

I've tried to relay as much information as I remember to Keyma.

They're gonna serve tacos with thin strips of steak,

and there's tortilla resting here.

This is Keyma's element. She should be sweet here.

Yep, yep.

I have five elements on the bench and none of them are ready.

Come on, Keyma. She looks so nervous.

You're good. You're good, mate.

Once everything is ready and I don't think...

Oh, I start thinking, what do I do? What do I do?

Oh!

Oh, my goodness.

It's chaos.

There's so much to do.

I don't know what time is... How much time...

I am not sure if I can get it all done.

I'm starting to think that this is an impossible task.

Aghhh!

I have five elements on the bench, and none of them are ready.

DANIEL: Come on, Keyma. Come on, you can do it.

MATT: She seems a bit nervous. You're good. You're good, man.

It's chaos.

There's so much pressure on me.

There's a lot to do, and I'm not sure how I'm going to do it.

I don't even know - what time is it?

Keyma.

Hello, guys. Were you happy when you walked in?

I'm just trying to get it together, really.

Hang on. That's not an answer.

No, that's not happy. That's... You weren't happy?

Yeah, I'm OK.

You're OK? I'm OK.

Somewhere in the middle of not happy, but happy.

Somewhere in the middle, yep. JOCK: What's that?

That's a roasted chilli sauce, but it tastes like lemon, or lime.

OK. And what's this? That's a fresh chilli sauce.

OK. I'll try this.

That just tastes like lime.

Yeah, and coriander. Coriander, yeah.

Where's the, um... where's the chilli element?

I don't know if... Who's coming in? Max?

Max. Does he know how to make tortillas?

I'm not sure.

What I think you need to do is get a plan

on how to make chilli, fresh chilli, the hero.

I'm just thinking, what else can I do?

What else can I do to do this?

What do I do with this?

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, I'm so stressed.

I decided to leave the taco dough and the sauces to Max.

What do I have to do?

Mmmm...

Long red chillies.

I'm just thinking more chillies.

I just need more chillies.

I decide to make a salad element, to add some spice and freshness

because there's no chilli coming through the rest of the elements.

DANIEL: Is she going to do the dough for the tacos?

JENN: I asked her to do the steak and the dough.

And the dough?

It's very, very hot.

Mm, looks quite nice.

We're, like, so cool, calm and collected, hey?

Yeah. I'm so happy about this.

Montana's handover was pretty good.

She was pretty on top of it, I think.

They've really done quite a lot already.

The chicken wings are in, we've got the sambal, we've got the dressing.

Just need to kind of check the flavouring.

I'm looking at the sauce, it's pretty thick and sticky.

It's very sweet and it's very reduced.

So I'm just looking at what's on the bench,

'cause I don't really want to overly add anything

'cause these are all the ingredients we've already been working with.

Yeah, it's really spicy.

I mean, I think it's nice, but I'm just kind of...

There's something kind of not quite right.

And I'm just trying to get it right.

Ugh! This is crazy! What the...?!

I'm so happy with what the team has done.

It's a Sri Lankan chicken curry.

We've managed to get a lot of elements on the go here

in such a short amount of time.

It's a strange thing to walk in

and, you know, pick up someone else's dish,

but it's tasting really good.

Everything has a nice hit of chillies.

The pickle's going on here.

So, Sashi has put on the coconut rice and it's almost ready.

So I just want to get onto some garnishes -

so, some fried onion, some fried curry leaves -

add that texture to the top of the dish,

'cause I think that's important, to layer those flavours.

Come on, Sarah. Come on, bring it on.

I'm heading out for the last changeover.

Come on, guys!

Come on, Andy. Don't make us wait any longer.

TOMMY: Let's bring it home. Oh, Jesus!

Righto, I've got one more twist.

Nah. Come on, let's go.

(ALL LAUGH)

HARRY: Let's go!

Here we go, guys!

Last changeover starts now! Chilli is the hero.

45 seconds! The hero. OK.

The rice is cooked. Yep.

We're making a Thai chicken curry. Uh-huh.

So taste that. I've balanced it already.

Yep, great. I think it's fine.

We've got, like, a sambal here. Like, I've been tasting it.

I just wouldn't mind a double-check from you. OK.

I've kind of...I've loosened it off with a bit of water

and put some kaffir lime juice in with some more fish sauce. Yep.

Chicken curry. So I've just... You can balance that.

Yep.

The rice is cooked and ready to go.

So, have a taste of the chicken,

see if you want to add a bit more coconut milk.

There's not a huge amount of chilli in here, so maybe have a taste

and see if you want to add a bit more chilli powder.

The roasted salsa is not good.

It doesn't taste like chillies.

The fresh salsa, I just put more chillies through.

Come on! Talk about the dough!

Chilli! Chilli! The dough!

Which one's the fresh salsa? This is the fresh salsa.

We have these pickled chillies,

which I think needs more salt.

And we're planning to do tacos... ANDY: Righto! Let's go!

So, Dan made the... Dan made the...the flour. Come on! Come on!

Good job. Good job. Good job. Come on! Come on!

OK.

I have to make some really quick decisions.

We're trying to hero chilli,

and that's not coming across in a few of our elements.

It's too wet.

And we've still got the tortillas, which need to be cooked.

I'm going to have to make some sacrifices.

Max. How's Taco City?

Hey, Andy.

I'm actually going to get rid of the tacos.

Dude, they've spent an hour on the tacos.

So, what's going to be the dish?

So, it's going to be this really nice chilli salsa -

I'm going to taste it again and finish balancing that off -

on the bottom of the plate.

Yep?

Topped with the steak on that.

It needs a little bit... It needs some work.

Um...

And then I'm going to finish it off...

Steak on this beautiful salsa, some of this green sauce.

Can I just say one thing?

Hey, everybody!

Tacos are now gone!

Oh, my God. Max. Oh!

Oh, my God. Max. I'm sorry.

So, the dish is no longer tacos.

There's no tortillas.

I'm not really sure what it's going to be. Steak and chilli, maybe?

But it's still not a taco, is it?

Hopefully, he's going to pull something together,

otherwise the dish is going to be a disaster.

Come on.

Seven minutes to go!

SASHI: Come on, Tommy! JOHN: Come on, Tommy!

TOMMY: The handover was perfect.

I think the team has done really, really well,

and we started really, really strong.

So I've just got to finish and make sure it works well.

I've tasted the Sri Lankan chicken curry, and it's delicious!

The pickled chillies are done, and they were really good as well.

But I've noticed the other element on the cooktop -

I think it's a chilli jam.

It's gone thick and hard.

I think it may have been over-reduced.

It's tasting more like a darker caramel than a chilli jam.

I am panicking.

Without it, just the curry by itself, is it heroing chilli enough?

And the chilli jam is kind of one of our main elements.

I'm the last one. The pressure is now on me to get this right.

SASHI: It's good. I like that... that caramelisation.

Yeah.

Sashi says the chilli jam had a great caramelisation,

so I'm just hoping that the flavours are right.

Wow. These guys are really organised.

Thai curry's done, they've pickled some chillies.

they've done the rice, they've done the herbs

and they've even done some candied chilli as well.

So my job, I think, is just to make sure everything's on the plate,

looks really nice.

Yeah, super happy.

I don't have to do anything.

I can just sort of relax and slowly plate up.

Just got to bring it home now.

Hoping for that immunity spot.

Fans, Favourites.

It's time to hustle. You only got three minutes to go.

ANDY: Let's go, come on! Come on!

And hustle they are.

Come on, Max. Come on, Max! Come on, Max!

MAX: I've got no idea what everyone else is doing.

They're standing still.

Billie, I think I nearly ran into her three times.

I don't know if she's moving.

I'm working at turbo speed,

and I think everybody else is in chill zone.

Where's he gone? I dunno, he's disappeared.

We've lost Max.

Oh, there he is.

One more.

More chillies. Go!

It's a hero.

ANDY: So we having tacos or what?

No, no, no, mate. No tacos.

Watching Max, I know that my original dish idea is lost in translation at this point.

Max is now the fifth person who's had a go

at this roasted chilli salsa.

Everyone's put a little bit of something in,

but no idea what it's gonna taste like now.

OK.

One minute to go! JOCK: One minute left!

Come on, guys!

Go, Steph, you legend!

Ali's handover was calm and collected.

She's told me everything that is in progress.

My team's done a really good job.

I'm really happy with how they've placed me.

The chicken wings are really good.

Sorry, I'm still chewing some chicken at the moment.

Really sweet, really fragrant.

There's enough char on it to get the taste across.

Yeah, feeling good. There's spice.

You can taste the chilli, definitely.

I think we're almost there.

Chilli, chilli, chilli!

Oh, my God. He loves it. Let's go!

JOCK: 10! 9! 8!

7! 6!

5! 4! 3!

2! 1!

(CHEERING)

(CHEERING)

That was amazing. Amazing. So good.

Looking at the dish, it was exactly how I pictured it.

(CHEERING)

MATT: Today's cook was so chaotic.

I think my main concern is that it's not how I envisioned it.

It's obviously not the dish I thought up at the start.

And so I am worried.

Right, the dreaded relay strikes again.

All up you guys had 75 minutes to bring us a dish

that heroed fresh chilli.

First up, it's Team Grey.

Billie, what's the dish?

We did a Thai chicken curry.

Fantastic. Julie.

When, you know, the hero ingredient was revealed to you

being fresh chillies, what did you think?

It's a hard one to make the hero.

I wanted to do something that I knew how to cook.

When I write a recipe,

I write the ingredients in the order that they're used,

so that's how my brain is organised

and I just wanted to lay out this recipe in that way

and make a nice, easy handover for everybody.

ANDY: Grey team,

I am going to commend each and every one of you.

Jules for the idea.

So great choice there.

And the work that you did in your 15 minutes really set the train up.

Minoli, you came in and you went hard as well.

You were back and forth, back and forth, back and forth to the pantry.

Michael. The pickled chillies make it.

Like, absolutely make it.

Alvin, you just did, like, honestly, again, you followed your instincts,

you didn't try and do too much, you balanced it here,

you balanced it there.

That's what you're good at and that's what you stuck to.

Billie, you put it in a bowl.

(LAUGHTER)

Really well.

Really bloody well.

No worries. No worries.

Nicely done. I think in general, good line of communication throughout.

You know, there was a clear idea that stayed.

Clever edits that were made along the way.

Nice depth of flavour.

Lovely richness about it, lovely perfume.

It felt like it was cooked by one person, which is a really nice thing.

And the pickled chilli,

while those particular chillies are not overly authentic

to a Thai curry situation,

you almost always see on the little condiment, you know, wheel,

a kind of pickled chilli.

So I think that that brightness was a really great idea, so well played.

Well done, I've got to say.

Very coherent cook from the grey team.

You all did a fantastic job. Well done.

(APPLAUSE)

Next up, Purple Team.

MAX: The decision to get rid of the taco, the tortilla,

was a decision I made.

But I think it was a choice that needed to be done.

Max, I'll ask you, what's the dish, mate?

We've brought to you our naked taco.

My biggest concern is, is that salsa deep and rich and flavourful

and chilli enough to hero the main ingredient?

Can they just forget

that there was supposed to be a taco underneath there?

Max, I'll ask you. What's the dish, mate?

We've brought to you our naked taco.

Our what? Sorry? (MEL LAUGHS) Naked taco.

A naked taco.

Alright. So, what is it?

So, we've got a roast chilli salsa on the bottom

with steak on top of that,

that's been seasoned with the dry chilli salt.

We've also got a fresh salsa with chilli and pickled chillies,

and then also the coriander and green chilli salsa verde.

Matt, what did you originally plan?

We were going for tacos at the beginning.

You were going for tacos, OK.

Obviously, the tortilla didn't work out.

So we've got the filling, but not the outside.

Purple team, I'm disappointed.

I'll just tell it how it is.

I was looking forward to tacos.

Either you had a brain fart or something,

I don't know what happened.

But at the end of the day, you should have made tacos.

Because ultimately that sauce and where the direction was going

was destined for that.

And as soon as you take away that cornmeal flavour,

this doesn't work anymore.

It's just a jumble sale of flavours

that is yelling for no particular reason.

Good lesson for you guys today, though.

When you land at a bench and it's not what you expected,

you've got to learn how to deal with that

because you're gonna come up against that throughout this competition.

It just feels so confused.

And it just doesn't feel like a dish that screams, "I am heroing chilli."

Yeah. I'm a little disappointed for you guys

because I think you had the best of intentions, Matt,

to set this one up,

but somehow it's just not quite transferred

through every single member of your team.

Thank you.

Let's go, green team.

STEPH: The flavours are banging. There's spice everywhere.

There's chilli everywhere. It's humming in chilli.

The team has done so well. And I think we've got this.

Right. Let's start with the anchor of the relay.

Steph, what's the dish?

It is a sweet chilli chicken with sambal,

a cucumber salad and fragrant rice.

Let's go to who started the dish. You, Harry.

Is that kind of what you envisioned? Yeah. It's, like, spot-on.

I could not be happier with what we ended up with.

Everything looks beautiful.

We had a little taste at the end,

and everything tastes even better than what I could imagine.

So, I'm just super proud of the team.

Should we get into it? Let's do it.

I'm going to take... Is it bad if I take two?

There's a pile of them.

That's what you've got to do, right? Should be doing like this.

Not on the shirt.

No, I'm trying my best.

You set out to give us chilli chicken wings,

you gave us chilli chicken wings.

And there's some pretty nice execution going on.

The salad is fresh and hot.

It's a really lovely foil for these sweet, sticky, spicy wings.

The sambal itself is verging on a sweet chilli kind of vibe.

That little bit of lingering heat is really lovely

because it continues to roll on after the sweetness is done.

So, I think all in all, you guys did a fantastic job.

Ladies...

..I really enjoyed this.

Chilli being the hero is definitely there.

It's in the sambal, obviously,

but that coating around the outside of the chicken,

the chilli flavours had time to penetrate into the wings.

Love the salad on the side.

It's refreshing, but it's also acidic and hot.

It's another layer of chilli flavour through there.

Alright, girl power.

First of all, great option to go here,

because it is, it's quite familiar.

I mean, we've all either seen or tasted or cooked,

you know, chilli chicken wings at some stage in our life.

So, for it to be quite a simple dish that everyone would know

and then amp those layers of heat up throughout it,

it was a really smart play, Harry.

And then you've got to commend each other one of you girls,

because you executed the brief.

At no point was there like, "Oh, I don't know about this.

"I'm going to go here."

It started out like this and it ended like this.

So, good work. Thanks, girls. Well done.

Next stop, it's Team Red.

JOHN: I'm feeling really nervous.

I hope I've done enough to redeem myself

from what happened in the last season

with the white chocolate veloute.

Hey, Tommy.

Do you want me to lime? Or are you guys want to...

I want you to do it, mate. Yeah.

Lime it. JOCK: Finish 'er up.

Liming.

OK. Tommy, what's the dish?

The dish is a Sri Lankan chicken curry with a chilli jam

and pickled chilli...

..and coconut rice.

John, we joke about it,

but also you must have had a little bit of trepidation

re-entering a challenge that...

Oh, definitely was, yeah.

..has stayed with you for the rest of your life

since you've been here last. It's made you famous, let's face it.

That's it. Yeah. They know me for it, so...

(LAUGHTER)

What's this? Yeah. What is that?

What is this?

Like, the chilli jam.

Chilli jam? Yeah.

Did you taste it? Yep.

Red team, I don't know about this.

Your chilli jam's over-reduced, over caramelised.

And, like, it's on the edge of, like, being burnt.

So that's unfortunate.

The chicken itself - had a beautiful piece of thigh of the chicken,

which is beautifully cooked and juicy.

The flavour in the curry itself is nice, it's fragrant,

it's tasty.

I feel as if all the flavours are there,

but it feels very heavy and not completely balanced.

MELISSA: It looks the picture. It really looked beautiful.

Like, your presentation is your absolute forte here.

But unfortunately, I don't get a hit of chilli.

It's not about the chilli.

And today, the hero of this challenge had to be chilli.

I don't really feel like this is meeting the brief.

It's proof that relays are hard, right?

Yeah. So hard. It's tough.

Solid idea, but it just...

..it just hasn't eventuated onto the plate, unfortunately.

Thank you. Thank you.

Well, well, well.

Always a fun day in this place when we set the relay as a challenge.

Today, no different.

A couple of teams really communicated well

and they cooked fantastic dishes.

But a couple of teams not so well.

The question is, which team gave us the best dish

and are heading into tomorrow's immunity challenge with these two.

It came down to the grey team...

..and the green team.

In the end, one team brought us a chilli element

that elevated their dish above the pack.

And that was Michael's pickled chilli.

(ALL CHEER)

How good's that? A pickled chilli.

Congratulations, grey team.

You'll be joining Aldo and Melanie in the immunity challenge tomorrow.

(LAUGHTER)

How does it feel? You weren't expecting that.

No. Why?

I'm scarred by team challenges from last time.

I've just won more team challenges in two team challenges

than I did the whole time last time. So...

Which is great. There you go.

Does that mean the tides are turning?

That's pretty good. I gotta hope so.

JOCK: It's not over, guys. It's time to get excited.

Because just around the corner is your first masterclass of the season.

Excited? You should be.

I'm excited for today.

So excited.

Good day for masterclass. Good day for a masterclass.

Walking into my first masterclass, this is....this is awesome.

I've got my book and my pen ready,

and I'm ready to take in anything they throw at me.

Wow. Whoa.

Hello. Come on inside. Take a seat.

Yeah. We'll clap for you guys in.

What's going on, guys?

So exciting to be back for another masterclass.

Take a seat. Take a seat.

We get to have a little bit of fun

and see a different side of the judges.

This is the part when you guys get to relax,

just be kind to each other, take some notes

and have a look at what somebody is going to teach you.

In this case, today it's Andy and I.

Whoo! (LAUGHTER)

We got one cheer.

The enthusiasm! Who was that? You can stay.

Everyone else, get out of here.

Well, if you're not excited about us,

Mel's got a very special guest for you to meet later on.

Ooh.

And then we're going to mix things up

and hand the kitchen over to you guys.

But to kick off, Andy and I are going to take on a mystery box.

ALL: Oh...

Ah.

Shall we get started? Let's do it. Yeah.

Alright. So nervous.

(LAUGHTER)

Right, Jock? Andy.

You can lift your lid. You can lift your lid.

BOTH: Now.

Oh, you're kidding me!

So, we're doing Monday's mystery box.

Like your mystery box, I've got apples, cabbage, truss tomatoes.

Ooh, couple of sneaky lemons under there.

A nice-looking pork chop. Ciabatta.

Got some parsley and some dark chocolate.

So, we're going to show you what we would have done

with the first mystery box.

So, Jock, wanna know some new rules? Yeah, go on. Hit me.

Well, mate, you have 75 minutes to create a dish

that uses one or more of these lovely ingredients

in your mystery box.

Are you ready? Yes.

Good. Your time starts now.

CONTESTANTS: Whoo!

Alright. I am going to make a parsley and bread gnocchi.

So, gnocchi di panne

with smoked tomato broth and pork on the side, basically.

So, it's like, you know, pork and gnocchi. That's it.

Andy, what are you making?

So, I'm going to do a burnt cabbage

with a smoked tomato beurre blanc

and a little, like, pork skin pangritata.

Oh, yum.

You got apples? Do you want apples?

I need a couple more apples.

Alright. Got it.

So, why I need apples is I'm going to make a little apple caramel

to glaze the cabbage.

And once it gets nice and roasty and toasty...

Can I, in exchange for the apples,

get some of your apple reduction back?

Sure. Perfect.

Alright.

So, I'm going to start making a smoked tomato broth.

I've got a little ghetto smoker.

So, I'm going to take the coals out of the hibachi,

add some woodchips to it, and then I've got a bowl with a rack in it.

I'll leave a little air gap and just smoke my tomatoes.

I'm going to whip off the bone from my pork chop

and stick it in there as well along with the skin.

I want some kind of consistency and viscosity,

and I'm going to get that from the pork skin.

I have juiced all my apples.

All we're going to do is put this in a small saucepan.

We're going to bring it to the boil

and then we're just going to reduce it

until it literally it looks like a caramel.

Season the cabbage.

Gonna season both sides up really well.

My oil is pretty raging here.

We're going to get some good colour on it and then bang it in the oven

as high as it can go so it gets burnt.

I have my pork chop, lemon zest,

a load of salt and pepper.

let it sit there for five minutes and then get on to the hibachi.

With the hibachi, I'm going to load the coals to one side,

add a little lump of wood.

That wood smoke will travel through it.

Put a heavy steel pan on top of it and then cook it here.

It means that if the fat does drip down, it's not going to flare up.

Oh, you've got pork on. So you're going low and slow.

Yeah, I'm slow-cooking it

so it's not cooking at a very high temperature at all.

Yeah.

So, cabbage is, like, going nuts in that pan, as you can see.

Pretty good colour, but it's going to get even more colour

once we go into the grill and it's, like, right up the top.

Now we're just going to take the fat and the skin off our pork chop.

The skin, I've just put in between two trays.

We're going to crisp that up, like crackling.

And the fat, I'm going to cook my breadcrumbs in for the pangritata.

How's the apple juice going? Yeah, it's getting there.

Looking good.

To that I'm going to add some lemon juice.

A touch of the vinegar in there as well.

So, what I'm looking for is a sweet-and-sour sticky glaze.

So, you know how I always love to roll out a pun in the time call?

One of you is going to do it.

Who's going to pun town? I can.

Julie Goodwin.

This is going to be good.

I hope you parsley the test!

60 minutes to go!

Julie Goodwin, ladies and gentlemen!

Take a bow. That was fantastic. I love it.

Now I'm going to start my smoked tomato beurre blanc.

I'm going full hardcore smoked tomatoes.

I have blitzed the ciabatta bread.

I've never heard of a gnocchi made with bread instead of potatoes.

How does that differ in texture and how it cooks?

It cooks much the same, but the texture is different

and gnocchi di pane really is like impoverished regional things

where, you know, they might not have had potatoes,

but they've got old bread.

Gives it a really nice flavour, I think.

So, I'm just making a parsley puree.

You can see the colour's, like, super green and nice.

Straight into the breadcrumbs and then some 00 flour

so as it comes together as a dough.

I've just got my tomatoes off the smoker.

Tomatoes go so lovely and meaty when they're...when they're smoked.

Salt and pepper.

And then these are going under the grill to get more colour

for the base of our beurre blanc.

Pork skin's caramelised,

so we're going to strain the fat off to cook our breadcrumbs in.

We're going to start making the gnocchi.

So, I braided my daughter's hair this morning.

And so I thought, actually, why don't I braid the gnocchi?

I've never really seen braided gnocchi before.

Do you know how to braid? Nah.

Wait till you have kids, mate. (LAUGHTER)

In my head, this is going to work, but we'll see if it does.

What time we got? 35 minutes.

We've got 35 minutes to go. Yeah.

Anyone got a beer?

(LAUGHTER)

Something's burning. Something's definitely burning.

Oh, look at that. I burnt my caramel.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm into the elimination with that.

VOICEOVER: Coming up...

Every bite, you're getting some beurre blanc,

you're getting some crispy stuff.

..Andy and Jock finish off their mystery box masterpieces.

Oh, how's the caramel?

Then...

Today we're doing wood-fired mackerel with a tomato sambal.

..chef Rosheen Kaul unlocks the secrets of cooking over fire.

Hey...

And later...

This is my homemade Southern-style fried chicken.

I'm making Taiwanese popcorn chicken today.

..it's Jenn and Julie in the ultimate fried chicken cook-off.

Oh, look at that.

I've burnt my caramel.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm into the elimination with that.

I've got some, like, crystallised stuff.

Yeah. Give me it. Yeah?

So, I'm going to do a burnt cabbage with a smoked tomato beurre blanc.

So, my cabbage is out and I can kind of tell

because see how all of the layers have started to kind of fan out?

That's when you know all of the layers

are cooked, like, perfectly.

And now I can just let that rest.

And then we're just going to brush it with the caramel.

So I've got my tomatoes nice and dark

and now I'm just going to beurre blanc it.

Vinegar - we'll go about 50 mil.

Get it in there.

That can go in the pot.

How is your caramel?

Close.

(LAUGHTER)

Just checking.

I am going to make a parsley and bread gnocchi

and pork on the side.

Andy saved my ass with some caramel.

So we'll do the baste and the reheating the pork.

Alright.

Back on the hibachi.

So, I've got my apple caramel.

So now I'm just going to paint the burnt side of the cabbage.

Because this is sweet, that's bitter,

it's going to make it balanced.

And then we'll just let that sit.

And everyone at home and maybe you guys, too,

are probably going, "Oh, my God, it's so dark."

But, like, cabbage or brussels sprouts or anything in that family

are just so good when they're, like, gnarly and caramelised and...

..and burnt, I suppose.

Gnocchi breads in salty boiling water.

So I've got parsley stalks chopped up and a little bit of lemon rind,

salt, white pepper, oil.

Gnocchi is up.

So the gnocchi goes straight into our waiting parsley oil,

so as it's beautifully dressed.

I'm going to plate up.

See that outside layer?

Pull the outside leaves off

and you're left with, like, sweet goodness in there.

Now we're just going to fill in the gaps with our beurre blanc.

Oh, nice.

Stunning. Yeah.

And then we'll just hit it

with a bit of our crunchy pork skin and pork fat pangrattato.

Yum.

So every bite you're getting some cabbage,

you're getting some beurre blanc,

and you're getting some crispy stuff.

It looks good.

Alright. Pork done.

How is it? Can I have some?

Mmm. It's delicious.

Oh, how's the caramel?

Oh!

Alright.

My broth has been reduced by about half.

Flavour's coming nicely in that.

Done.

So we're wrapping this up, what, 15 before the time?

That one there is my burnt cabbage with smoked tomato beurre blanc

and pork fat pangrattato.

(APPLAUSE)

This is my bread gnocchi with pork and a lightly smoked tomato broth.

(APPLAUSE)

Righto. We need some tasters.

Aldo, Christina and Montana.

Let's go.

Oh, that looks so good.

Sorry, I want the perfect mouthful.

Oh, God, that's so good.

Mmm.

Very well-balanced. Beautiful.

You'd almost think that that's like a hunk of meat.

Like, it's so, like... Yeah, it's meaty.

Yeah. It's insane. That's so good.

Righto. I think he's ready for you over there.

Alright.

Yum.

Mmm.

The amount of apple that comes through is insane.

The texture in the gnocchi is sensational.

Yum. Happy days.

Happy days!

Our work here is done.

Hey!

Alright, guys, that's it from us.

So get yourself through to the restaurant

where Mel is waiting for you with a very special guest.

See ya.

See you, guys. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thanks.

BILLIE: Gee, they've set the pace, haven't they? My God!

Hello!

Welcome, everybody. Please take a seat.

I would like to introduce you to a very good friend of mine.

She's one of the most exciting people in the food industry right now.

She's the head chef at Etta here in Melbourne, in Brunswick East.

Please welcome Rosheen Kaul.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Thank you.

Thank you very much.

So, Etta has always been about cooking over flame,

over fire and smoke.

So talk to me about your approach,

infusing your heritage with cooking over fire.

So I'm from Singapore originally

and I did grow up in Australia mostly. Sister.

Singapore friends.

But beyond that... (LAUGHTER)

..it's always been very much like outdoor seafood.

I really wanted to write an entire menu based on my heritage,

but using this beautiful open hearth wood fire that we have,

so everything goes through the fire.

The amount of flavour extraction you get from using a wood fire

is amazing.

Today, Rosheen will be showing you a dish from the Etta menu.

What are we going to be cooking?

Today we're doing wood-fired mackerel

with a charred tomato sambal.

Oh, sambal!

Not everybody has wood fire at home.

So we thought what we would do is show a technique

using just a gas stove.

All you need is a wire rack. Sounds good?

Yeah. Great.

Alright, where do we start? Beautiful.

So let's start by warming up this rack

so that it's nice and hot and the skin definitely won't stick.

So we're using blue or slimy mackerel.

We are going to do a technique today called reverse butterflying.

And ideally what you want to do is prep that as early on as you can

so you can have your skin drying out in the fridge.

Alright. So when you've got your fish conventionally gutted,

the first thing you should do is just get the spine out of this fish.

Cut along the rib cage on both sides.

Use the finest scissors you have

and just cut from the head down the rib cage.

Do the other side.

So once you've done that, we are going to use a smaller knife

and just cut down.

Stroke.

So just clean, sweeping motion? Clean sweep.

Same again. You want to go on the other side.

So all you need to do now is use the scissors.

Cut the back.

Cut the front.

And really gently prise it out.

You make that look so easy.

The whole thing just comes out.

You want to split that head open so it sits nice and flat

on that stove.

And just give it a little scrape.

Have a feel.

Feel for pin bones.

Cool.

So one last thing we want to do,

because we are gonna cook it skin side down,

we want to cut off the little fins so they don't catch on fire.

So just the little fins off.

Beautiful.

I mean, let's just take a minute to appreciate that.

Isn't that gorgeous?

Alright. Next up.

Alrighty. So once our fish is prepped, we can keep that aside.

And like I said, you want it to have as much time in a fridge

drying out as possible.

Now, we're going to grill off all of our ingredients

for this sambal.

So we're going to roast our chillies.

Birdseye chillies and tomato and shallot.

We want to caramelise some of the skin

and try and release some of those really lovely sugars.

But you also don't want to burn it beyond oblivion.

So, these little chillies are nearly there.

So, as you can see, I've still got a little bit of fresh skin left.

I'm also going to be toasting the shrimp paste over the fire.

I've never seen that before.

Does that just change the end result?

Well, traditionally, we would just toast it dry in a pan.

I'm just doing it over fire because actually

you get a little bit of smoke in it, and it's really lovely.

Yeah? Sweet. OK. Delightful. Toasted.

Shall we continue? Yes.

So we've left our ingredients to wilt a little bit.

We're going to put it into the food processor.

We're going to blitz it till it's nice and smooth.

Allow me. (LAUGHS) Please.

While you are doing that, I'm going to warm up this oil in the wok.

Alright, we are good.

Alright. Perfect.

That smells amazing already.

Smells shrimp pasty.

At this point here, you actually can use it as is once you season it.

But I like cooking it out so it has a deeper,

more complex flavour profile.

I'm just going to add a bit of water here.

So once that water is evaporated,

that's probably your best indicator of when it's about to be ready.

And it'll start to bubble up a bit. Yes, definitely.

So, I just let that go below heat.

That's going to take about 10 minutes.

OK. Smells so good. It smells like home.

Yeah.

VOICEOVER: Next...

Hey!

..the amazing reveal of Rosheen's fish dish.

(EXCLAMATIONS)

Look at that!

And later...

This is really, really simple.

I reckon all of this stuff can be found in your pantry,

but without going to the shops or anything like that.

Foundation stuff. Yeah.

Julie's amazing hacks

for takeaway-style fried chicken at home.

Cheers.

Cheers. Cheers.

So we have our sambal about to be ready.

So you can see all that moisture is basically gone.

That looks incredible.

I'm really excited to eat this.

I mean, how do you not want to put that in your face?

Mmm.

Maybe when it's cooler, though.

Yeah. Definitely. (LAUGHTER)

It has a million applications.

You can use it as a really nice dip for fresh vegetables,

on grilled or fried fish is obviously very delicious.

Have it with just rice.

Is there, like, variations on sambal?

Every region has their own celebrated one.

So this one is from Java in Indonesia.

In Bali, the famous one called sambal matah, which is a fresh sambal.

There is a really nice green sambal, sambal ijo.

Love that one. That's really delicious.

Using green chillies, green tomatoes.

There are so many different kinds.

There are so many different personal touches that you could make

to make your own version of a sambal that we would love.

So have fun experimenting with it.

All they have to have is chilli.

So we've got grated palm sugar here.

So just work that in there.

All that residual heat is going to melt that through.

And remember, you want the heat.

You want a bit of sweetness. You want to taste those chillies.

You want to taste that char.

Let's see.

Chef's kiss from a chef.

My ancestors are smiling down on me today.

I'm just going to let that cool down.

And we are going to start on our fish.

So I'm going to oil the fish.

How much oil?

So because this is mackerel, because it's an oily fish,

it's got heaps of natural fat already.

You don't actually really need too much oil.

But also because we are doing it on this open flame here,

we don't want to have residual fat dripping down.

Let's do it. Let's do it.

Hey!

Yeah, so you can see it's got beautiful colour.

Mackerels are beautiful fish that you can finish cooking on the plate.

So you want your plate to be nice and warm

and you just flip it straight on there

and it'll rest up to ideal serving temperature.

I love that.

Right. So, banana leaf.

Hey! Look at that!

OK. Let's finish the dish.

So the citrus I'm just going to use on the side

is calamansi lime, which is very special.

What makes calamansi so special?

Oh, it's beautiful. I mean, the aromat that comes out is amazing.

Before moving to Australia, I never knew what a lime or lemon was.

Yeah. So this is what we use. Calamansi.

Calamansi is like part of any kind of sambal, any kind of cooking.

We will go to any hawker centre in Singapore

and we will have nice calamansi juice.

Even the smell is so nostalgic.

So, please introduce your dish.

So this is my stove-fried mackerel with tomato sambal.

(APPLAUSE)

Who wants to try this incredible dish?

Alright.

Melanie. Harry. Alvin. Daniel.

Please help yourselves.

Yes! Look at that.

Oh, beautiful. Look at it!

Thank you.

What's going on in your face right now?

I think having that beautiful, strong, oily fish

really balances well with the sambal.

Like, the crisp on the skin is perfect.

The cook on the fish is great.

It's a really, really smart way to cook,

and it's definitely something I'll be taking forward with me.

It's so sort of reminiscent of home.

The first thing you taste when you taste the sambal

is, like, you get that note of belacan

and then you get the heat and then the sweetness as well.

But then the oil was just sort of coating the mouth

but in a very, very pleasant way.

And that fish, it's like, oh!

(LAUGHTER)

Everybody thank Rosheen Kaul.

VOICEOVER: Coming up...

We've got a few more interesting stuff.

It's a little bit different, right? Yep.

We're making Taiwanese popcorn chicken today.

Jenn represents the fans...

MELISSA: Bags the chickens in the oil over there.

Alright. Alright. Well, move faster, faster.

..in the ultimate fried chicken challenge.

You guys alright over there?

I hope you've managed to pack as much flavour as possible

into your fried chicken.

You wait and see.

Yeah, exactly. I don't... See? She's getting the hang of it now.

Yes!

I've changed her.

Alright. Welcome back, you lot.

I hope you learned something great from Rosheen.

Did you enjoy that? ALL: Yes.

Pretty cool, right?

We thought we couldn't do a Fans versus Favourites season

without a cook-off in a masterclass.

Fans v Favourites. Awesome.

Today we're going to concentrate on one of my favourite things.

It's very close to my arteries.

It is...fried chicken.

Yes!

Yes. I knew you'd like that.

There can never be enough fried chicken.

When did you eat fried chicken last? Last night.

Alright. So we need one fan and one favourite for today.

It's going to be...

..Jenn and Julie.

Come on up. Let's go.

I'm with you, Jules.

Oh, my God.

I'm quite surprised to get picked.

It's already amazing enough that I'm on MasterChef,

but never did I ever think I would have this opportunity.

I'm cooking opposite Julie Goodwin.

I'm actually really nervous.

So, Julie, I'll be your sous-chef today, whether you like it or not.

I like it.

Jenn, I'm going to be your apprentice today, whether you like it or not.

Just gonna be a master chef today.

I don't know how I feel.

It's going to be nerve-racking, and I hope I don't embarrass myself.

So fried chicken, obviously. What's your version?

This is a version I came up with

because my boys like takeaway fried chicken.

This is my homemade southern-style midweek mum version.

Yeah. Love it. Getting it done.

Easy.

What's going on over there?

This sounds even better.

This is really a competition.

It is a competition.

We can have all different kinds of chicken. It's all good.

I thought this was just a masterclass.

We do the competition stuff all the time.

Let's just make some fried chicken and eat it.

Jenn? Yes?

Talk to me about your ingredients

because we've got a few more interesting stuff.

It's a little bit different, right? Yes.

We're making Taiwanese popcorn chicken today.

It's something you find everywhere in Taiwan

and it's, like, a really good TV snack.

Yum. Yeah.

Alright. I'm here to help.

OK. You're going to give me a job?

Yeah, can you cut the chicken? Of course I can cut the chicken.

How big are we cutting it?

Bite-size pieces, please.

Bite size.

Petrified that I might do this wrong, Jenn.

No!

You won't do it wrong.

How does it feel to be in the driver's seat?

It feels good.

Could you get used to this?

I definitely can - just standing here and, you know,

I don't have to do anything.

Just enjoy the chicken after.

(LAUGHTER)

Righto, Jules, what do you want me to do?

Well, let's get the chicken on to poach.

Run us through why the water poaching first.

It's to make sure it cooks through.

Because if you just drop it in oil with a bone in chicken,

it'll burn on the outside but still be raw in the middle.

And your oil is on 180 degrees here.

Yeah, so it's quite hot, which is why I like to have it cooked through.

Sure. Yeah.

Do we need to get some oil on, heating up?

Not yet.

Later.

Let's marinate the chicken first.

In our marinade, we've got Chinese five-spice, fermented tofu,

mushroom, oyster sauce, soya sauce, rice wine and black vinegar.

This smells delicious already, Jenn.

It's going to taste delicious as well.

Hey, Julie.

How's your little apprentice going there?

Oh, look, he's alright. He's alright. Needs work.

(LAUGHTER)

Don't be scared to give him a written warning if he needs it.

Alright?

(LAUGHS) I won't.

He's very good. Love me, Chef.

You know I love you, Andy.

This is really, really simple.

It's a spice double flour mixture.

And I've got eight public herbs and spices here.

Very public.

No secrets here. No secrets here.

So I've got a smoky paprika and some dried oregano.

Got onion and garlic powder,

black pepper, a little bit of chilli.

And that's, you know,

that's one of those you can dial that up if you like a lot of chilli.

Some salt and some white pepper just goes into some plain flour.

Plain flour?

I reckon all of this stuff can be found in your pantry,

like, without going to the shops or anything like that.

It's foundation stuff. Yep.

My style of cooking

is all about bringing it down to the most basic elements

of making it taste good without doing anything that's unnecessary.

When you're a mum, it's just all about get dinner on the table.

My family loves this fried chicken recipe.

Got to have gravy with it. Got to have some chippies with it.

Fried chicken night is a good night.

This thing is, like, 70% spice, 30% flour.

Nice.

And now we're going to make the egg mixture.

We'll need about three eggs whisked.

What's going on with that wok station over there?

I don't know. We don't even have the deep fryer on yet.

Really? We've got bulk deep fryers over here.

Two at a time.

Don't worry, this is super fast to make.

Jock just keeps telling me to put the oil on

and I don't want to be rude,

but it doesn't need to go on yet.

Should we get the oil on yet?

Well, ideally, you want this to marinate for as long as possible.

Arggh!

Relax, Jock. I got this.

It's my recipe. I know what I'm doing.

Let's just pick some nice basil leaves.

Thank you. Let's go.

Whose recipe is this?

Is this one of yours or is it a family staple?

I would love to say it's a family staple.

But we're trying to be healthy.

Fried chicken's not healthy?

Since when?

Has this taken a while to perfect?

I'm happy with it.

It's a bunch of trial and error.

Tried a few different recipes.

Took what I liked.

Took what I didn't like out. Yeah.

And then, yeah, this is what I've come down to.

Awesome.

We've poached our chicken, brought it up to a boil,

then to a simmer for five minutes,

turned the heat off

and then let it sit for about, what, 10 to 15?

Another 10, yeah. Yeah?

And now we're going to flour. Egg and flour.

Double crust. Double crust.

I love double crust.

So the trick here is only get one hand floury,

because the minute you get both floury, you get...

..an unfortunate itch or your phone rings or something.

You've just got to make sure you lift it up and let it drain.

Into there.

And then goes onto a tray. Gotcha.

This smells insane.

It's good, isn't it?

Kids would smash this, wouldn't they? Oh, yeah.

You can't even call them kids anymore, can you?

Well, they're still my babies.

Yeah. How old are they now?

23, 24 and 26.

They're not kids. Yeah.

They are kids!

So the chicken's marinated. Yeah.

And we're tossing it through sweet potato starch.

Sweet potato starch will crisp up really nicely,

and it forms natural clumps

and then gives a crunch when you fry it.

Sweet potato starch? I'm into it. Yes.

Alright, shall we fry?

Shall we fry? I thought you'd never ask.

So we're on 180.

180. Yeah.

Ready? Yeah. Go for it.

Oh, yeah.

MELISSA: Bags the chickens in the oil over there.

Alright. Alright. We'll move faster, faster.

So I look across the table,

Julie and Andy are already frying their chicken.

We actually need to get a move on.

Can I put the oil in the wok?

Yes, please. Yes, please, Jock.

You're killing me.

You've got a beautiful Southern style over there with Julie,

and then you've got this nice Taiwanese fried popcorn chicken

coming from Jenn.

Julie's well ahead.

She's got the chicken frying.

Jenn's taking her time, you know.

She's poised. She knows what she's doing here.

My nose is in heaven.

I'm excited.

I just want to dig in.

What is that?

Some basil leaves.

Oh, fancy.

So it's in there just to impart flavour into the oil?

Yes. Love it.

If you were doing this for your family...

I would need about 12 deep fryers.

12 chickens. (LAUGHS) Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. They eat quite a lot.

Let's start adding some chicken.

You're going in quite cool oil, really, isn't it?

Yeah. Because we're frying it twice.

Yeah.

So the first one is to cook through the chicken.

You're setting the coating, I guess. Yeah.

So we're doing a low-temp fry first, then a high temp?

Yeah. OK. Brilliant.

Oh, yeah.

That's what we're looking for.

Yeah. There it is.

Nice, deep golden.

Bit of salt on there.

Oh, look at these things!

JSC! Yeah!

They've already got fried chicken done.

You guys alright over there?

Yes. Sweet.

Sweet?

He's sweating. Is that normal?

Hey, we're doing a double fry here.

So, you know, I don't know if you guys did a double...

We didn't need to. We don't need a double fry.

It's just a very slick operation over here.

(ALL LAUGH)

TOMMY: It is so entertaining

to see Jock and Andy just sledging each other out,

having a little bit of fun.

It's always nice to have a little bit of healthy competition.

Ooh, this chicken needs to come out.

This smells delicious already. Hey, we're plating up over here.

When you say plate it, really we need a bucket.

Yeah, we do it in a bucket, yeah.

I like that the chicken has a chance to rest,

because it's actually going to help it keep crispier for longer

once it is fried.

Are you just saying that because it's taking a long time?

I was gonna say ours has been resting for a while over here.

(LAUGHTER)

So much sass.

So, the second fry, are we... Yeah, up the temp.

OK. We're upping the temp.

Oh, how good does this look?

And once they're golden, we just take them out.

You guys could be eating fried chicken now

if they would kind of get their act together.

Stop rubbing it in our face. Sorry, Jenn.

We're just layering flavours over here.

Oh, here we go. Nothing special.

Here we go.

I hope in that very short period of time, you've managed to pack

as much flavour as possible into your fried chicken.

You wait and see. Yeah, exactly.

See? She's getting the hang of it now. Yes!

I've changed her!

In the space of 20 minutes.

Alright, chicken has now had its second fry.

Final seasonings are...

Salt, white pepper, optional chilli powder.

How spicy do you want it? Spicy.

Load it up.

Yeah!

Mmm. What about that?

Generous.

Thank you.

Righto. Jules, you want to introduce your final fried chicken dish?

This is my Southern-style fried chicken.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

And, Jenn?

This is my Taiwanese popcorn chicken.

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

Thank you.

So, I mean, you guys are fans and favourites,

so we need someone neutral.

So I think our dear friend Melissa Leong is the woman for the job.

Come on.

Wow. OK.

Sucks to be me today, huh?

DANIEL: Both of the fried chicken dishes look amazing.

They're beautifully golden, crispy brown.

How can you choose between the two of them?

Right, get stuck in, Mel.

Choose your weapon. Thank you so much.

Oh, I reckon this guy here.

Yeah, that's exactly the one that I would have taken.

The hefty amount of seasoning.

Ready? Cheers.

Cheers. Cheers.

Check how juicy this thing is.

Lovely, lovely crust on the outside.

Beautifully spiced coating.

Juicy chicken, complex spices.

Satisfying crunch.

What more do you want?

Julie Goodwin, everyone!

Well, well, well.

What do we have here? Delicious bowl of chicken.

Oh.

Very succulent. It's lovely that the chicken had time to rest

in between the double fry.

Amazing spice coating on the outside as well.

The chilli powder is fantastic

because it just gives that little bit of warmth.

Not overly spicy.

And I think this is definitely better if you're absent-mindedly watching...

It's better. Sorry? Just stop there.

It's definitely better. ..definitely better than popcorn.

If you're going to be watching a movie.

I mean, strong fried chicken game also over here.

Jenn, everybody!

So after much consideration and much, much sampling...

..and I think the winner is...

..me, because I got to try both of them.

ANDY: Oh!

You're both amazing! Come on!

TOMMY: I've learned quite a lot in this masterclass.

You know, all the recipes look amazing.

I might just do one for dinner tonight.

Well, hopefully today has given you some fresh ideas

that you can take with you into your future cooks.

So everybody head home, get some rest, and we'll see you tomorrow.

ANDY AND JOCK: See you, guys.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia

there are seven cooks...

I think when you start having fun in this kitchen,

you start cooking good food.

..and seven pins.

But one man stands between them.

Captions by Red Bee Media