Original subtitles

next! See you same time

next! See you same time tomorrow,

next! See you same time tomorrow, goodnight!

goodnight! (APPLAUSE

goodnight! (APPLAUSE AND

NARRATOR: Previously on MasterChef Australia...

..this culinary icon brought the house down...

(CHEERING AND WHISTLING)

..and her 2-round elimination...

You've got this. I have. I know. Thank you.

Food with love.

..brought all the feels.

Maggie brings back so many memories with my mum.

I know she's watching. I know she's so proud of me.

They impressed with dishes worthy of their top 10 status.

Beautiful. You nailed it.

It is seriously impressive cooking.

And the duck - whoa! Well done, mate.

But it was the end of the journey for Antonio.

ANTONIO: I've learned so much

and I think my grandma definitely would be proud.

MELISSA: 'Bye! (APPLAUSE)

(LAUGHTER)

Hey, buddy.

Tonight...

RUE: I am really pushing myself to do something I've never done before.

..we kick off a week full of surprises,

starting with a spectacular Mystery Box.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

(BIRDSONG)

DECLAN: Ah! Beautiful day.

Butterflies are out.

RALPH: It's a new week. New surprise.

CATH: Yeah, let's cook some good food.

RALPH: Mystery boxes, I love them 'cause they force creativity,

but they're both comforting and terrifying.

Like, comforting in that, like, I know what my basic staples are.

Terrifying because the twist they'll pull on those are endless.

It could literally be anything.

Oh. (JUDGES APPLAUD)

Morning!

Ooh! Mystery Box.

Pick a bench, everyone. You know what day it is.

Oh, look out! Yeah. Hi, ladies. (GASPS)

Well, I can see

you've all got a little spring in your step today, huh?

Why wouldn't you?

You survived another week in the MasterChef kitchen.

Yeah.

Rhiannon, I'm gonna guess you're stoked.

Mate, I'm so stoked. (LAUGHTER)

(LAUGHS)

Like, I love everything about walking into this kitchen every day.

It's so exciting. There was 18.

There's only nine of you now. It's gotta feel good.

It's awesome! And I've got a white apron, so it's even more awesome.

Ralph? Yeah?

Mate, there's some good cooks going home.

Does that make you feel good or even more nervous?

Bit of both.

Just means that the competition is...is that fierce

that you've got to put your best foot forward every cook.

Well, there is no denying you've all come a long, long way,

but it's no time to take your foot off the gas.

We've got even more spectacular challenges in store for you guys

every single day this week.

Starting with this very surprising Mystery Box.

There is no way you're gonna guess what's inside this one.

Let's put you out of your misery.

You can lift your lids...

..now!

Oh! (POP!)

BRENT: What?! (ALL SQUEAL AND LAUGH)

Oh, my God! Ooh! Jeez Louise!

(RUE LAUGHS) Bloody hell!

Surprise!

Oh, my goodness! (LAUGHS)

Oh, my God! Whoo!

Gotcha! (LAUGHS) Oh, that scared the crap out of me.

Ohh.

Wow. Wow. OK.

(LAUGHS) How good's that!

Cooking with confetti! (LAUGHS)

(LAUGHS) It's insanity.

Oh, my goodness. (LAUGHS)

Not at all could I have ever predicted that in a million years.

It feels like the finale! I'm the winner!

I bet you weren't expecting that? CONTESTANTS: No.

(EXHALES)

It's a Mystery Box with a surprise inside.

(CHUCKLES) Oh!

Today, that is exactly what we want you to capture in a dish.

So think of a moment when you've seen something on a menu,

ordered it, it's arrived at the table, you've cut into it,

and it's just something entirely unexpected

in the best possible way.

That is your job today.

Leave us as amazed as you were when you lifted that lid.

CATH: My mind's racing.

It's just ticking over "What can I do today?"

Because it's our chance to actually surprise the judges this time.

So, for this challenge, we're gonna give you 75 minutes.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Of course, the pantry and the garden are open.

We're not messing around today.

The cooks that bring us the three least impressive dishes

will find themselves in tomorrow's Pressure Test

from where someone will be going home.

So, surprise us.

Do you understand? CONTESTANTS: Yeah.

Good, 'cause your time starts now!

CATH: Let's go! Let's go, guys! (JUDGES APPLAUD)

DECLAN: Good luck. (LAUGHS)

RUE: Where are the eggs?

I can never get used to the surprises.

Every single surprise surprises me.

Um, sugar.

But I really love making desserts.

And today is a chance to see how creative I can be.

So I'm thinking I really want to push the boundaries a little.

Well, all season, we've been surprising them,

and now it is their turn to make a surprise for us.

The tables have well and truly turned, haven't they?

Will we see a chicken Kiev today?

Well, I actually was thinking if I was in their shoes,

I'd do smoked and stuffed chicken wings.

Get the bone out and then stuff it. Ooh! Yeah.

Smoke it and then have it on the hibachi and glaze the absolute...

I...I would... ..life out of it.

..be pleasantly surprised by that. Can also be a trick of the palate.

We used to do a snack in Orana... Yeah.

..which was a strip of pumpkin that had been brushed

with...with a caramelised, roasted beef fat and blowtorch it.

When you eat it, all you can think about is roast beef.

Yeah. And... Deception!

It's deception.

Trick of the eye, trick of the palate, trick of the senses.

It's a day for anything to happen.

I hope our guys just have the greatest element of surprise.

We are ready.

Let's do it.

Surprise! Wow!

A whole heap of confetti and we can get as creative

and as fun as we want today.

I think that's what I'm really looking forward to.

I feel like I've already grown so much as a cook

in the last couple of weeks in the MasterChef kitchen.

So, today, I want to show the judges

that I can really push myself out of my comfort zone.

Conceptually, I really need to think about techniques

and things that I never would have tried before.

We've got to create a dish with something unexpected inside of it.

I'm just thinking, like, a vehicle,

whether it's a cake or a choux bun,

but what are you gonna put inside a cake or a choux bun

that no-one's gonna expect?

Hi, Declan. Hi, Declan.

Mel, Andy. I'm absolutely motoring here.

Yeah. What are you making today?

Um, so I am making green curry chicken...

OK. ..in a choux bun.

We're here for this. Yes!

This is the dish... Yes!

..of dreams... Yes.

..that we have been wanting to hear you make.

This sounds inspired and you're excited.

I am excited! And that makes us excited.

I love green curry chicken. Surprise us.

Give us the perfect dish. Yeah.

Good luck! Thank you.

Choux pastry, I think it's a challenge,

but it's delicious if you get it right.

I'm gonna pipe them into this.

It's definitely got something that I wouldn't normally do.

In the oven. Alright.

But it is a competition and...and we're getting to that stage

where the finish line is in sight.

So, if I can pull this off,

there's no way I'm gonna be in a black apron tomorrow.

(TENSE MUSIC)

MALISSA: Surprise! This is a fun one.

When I lifted up that box,

straightaway I just thought about my nieces

and, you know, they love confetti,

they love a good little surprise.

So, I thought I am gonna channel that today.

So, I'm thinking that I'm gonna make

a little cake that I think they would absolutely love

and hope that that's gonna bring me some luck today.

Malissa! Hey, Malissa.

Hello! Hello! How's it going? Very good.

What is your surprise dish? I'm gonna do a lemon meringue cake.

And then in the centre is gonna be, like, a berry surprise.

So when you cut it open, that'll kinda ooze out.

And then I'm going to top that with the Swiss meringue.

How dense is the cake? It's just a lemon cake.

I want it a little bit more dense. Yeah.

So it can hold all of this

and it'll actually ooze out when you cut it.

It sounds like you've got the picture. You just need to paint it.

I'm looking forward to this. Good luck.

I know it's gonna take a lot of technique

to pull off something that looks beautiful on the outside

but has a really awesome surprise on the inside.

I really need to make sure that I can achieve that today.

RHIANNON: Bloody hell! I've got more equipment than ingredients!

I can't bloody believe I'm top 9. This is crazy!

Coming into the competition,

I legitimately never thought that I'd get this far.

I wanna keep going as far as I can and just keep pushing.

Today, I'm gonna stick with flavours I know,

but put them in a dish that the judges won't expect.

I'm gonna make a Thai red curry chicken ballotine.

They're going to be thinking 'classic French flavours',

and they're gonna go, "Hang on a minute! This tastes like Thailand!"

(LAUGHS)

Chicken ballotine is a chicken thigh.

You put some sort of mousse in the middle, you roll it up,

then you fry it so the skin's crispy and then you put it in the oven.

I've cooked a ballotine before but not with a curry in the middle.

So, this is gonna be a challenge.

But if I can get this right, it's definitely gonna surprise them

that there's a Thai red curry in the middle of this French-looking dish.

Surprise! You've only got one hour to go!

(JUDGES CLAP)

Oh, my God!

When they said 'surprise', I'm like, "What now?"

Yeah. No. No. No more!

THEO: Ooh, that's lovely.

I'm making a watermelon kopita.

So it's like a spanakopita but without spinach.

It's got watermelon inside.

It's a surprise combination of flavours

and hopefully it comes through as a nice flavour.

Mr Brent Draper. G'day, guys.

Going sweet today? Yeah, going sweet.

OK. That's a surprise in itself. There you go. I win!

(ANDY AND MELISSA LAUGH)

What's the dish?

So I am going a hazelnut ice cream with a poached pear.

Inside the pear, there'll be a butterscotch sauce

that when you cut into it, it sort of just ooze it

and then sort of bring the whole dish together.

Right. OK. Mmm. This sounds so fancy for you.

I love it! Yeah.

ADI: I'm making panipuri which is an Indian street snack.

The normal dish is just this little, uh, pillow of inflated dough

that's hollow in the middle.

So then you fill it up with potato and lots of other spices.

Today, I'm gonna fill it with surprising flavours -

salmon roe and avocado.

Surprising them with whats inside of it,

so when they bite in, they're like, "Ooh, didn't expect that!"

I love this challenge. It gets me to think outside the box.

So, I'm making a dessert that has a little surprise inside.

Something that is unexpected. Something gooey.

Hey, Rue. Hi, Rue!

Hello, guys! How are you? Doing very good.

You're very calm over here. I am.

May I ask, what is your surprise dish?

OK, so my surprise dish is an egg in a shell.

OK.

So I am going to make a white chocolate mousse

which is the egg white...

Yep. OK.

..with a...passionfruit gel in the centre, which is the egg yolk,

so that oozes out.

And I'm going to do a little kataifi nest for the egg to sit on.

Cute! I dig it hard.

OK! Yep. But I have a lot of things to do.

I was just about to say. I am just going to push through.

OK! I'm excited! OK. Let's do it.

OK, guys. (LAUGHS) Ready to be surprised.

I think this is going to be the trickiest dish I've ever made

and I am feeling a lot of pressure to do well

because Mel and Andy have been thoroughly impressed

with my concept,

but there is so much to do still.

So that's just my mousse. It's gonna go in the blast chiller.

I'm just going to work as quickly as I can.

I need some fairies in there working all the time.

And hopefully I can pull this dish off.

45 minutes to go! Come on!

(JUDGES CLAP)

Ooh, something smells nice.

Put this...in the freezer. OK? So just relax.

Today in the Mystery Box challenge, we had to cook a dish

that has an element of surprise.

Man, what a surprise! And my heart's still actually racing so much!

I can't believe it. I'm top 9!

It is really important now to be really pushing myself

out of my comfort zone.

I'm gonna try something that I've never done before.

I've been working on a few different flavour profiles

that I am unfamiliar with.

I want to showcase my shio koji caramel with fig leaf.

OK. Let's just check this caramel.

Shio koji, it's a Japanese ingredient.

It's got that real umami flavour.

I'm finding that my creative side does come out

when I'm doing desserts

and that's why I've chosen to do a dessert today.

Hey, Cath. How are ya? Hi, guys!

What's going on?

I've got a...a lime semifreddo in the freezer.

So, the surprising side, I'm gonna do a shio koji and lime caramel.

MELISSA: Ooh!

And I'm actually gonna try and do a fig leaf oil.

Ooh! So, I'm freaking myself out.

But I'm just gonna have a go.

So, I think there's a couple of surprises here.

There's obviously the caramel centre,

but there's also some pretty interesting flavour combinations

going on here.

Go hard, Cath. Yeah, I am. Thanks, buddy.

No worries. Thanks, Mel.

Yeah! (LAUGHS)

I'm being really ambitious.

So I've taken on a lot today.

My semifreddos are in the blast chiller

and now I need to get on to the fig leaf oil.

I want to present a dish today

which shows how far I've come in the competition,

that it's full of complex flavours

and I just really want to use the skills I've learnt to move forward.

OK. Done.

I love the flavours of the dish.

I just hope I get the balance right today.

RALPH: Today's Mystery Box is probably the most challenging

because they want something surprising and something creative.

And with the surprise, make it taste good.

I'm not really a dessert guy. I'm more savoury.

Today, I've decided to go left of field

just because I want to try and show a bit of creativity

and try something new.

Alright.

Today I'm making a cinnamon parfait with an apple and caramel centre.

I'm gonna incorporate the surprise element of it inside.

When they cut it in half, everything should ooze out.

Let's go.

I have made a parfait maybe, like, once or twice.

I have an idea in my head I really want to try.

I'm gonna make my parfait, I'm gonna centre it out,

and then I'm just gonna freeze the caramel and the apples

and then cover that with the parfait.

So that's beautifully hidden inside the entire parfait.

Um, the parfait's in the freezer.

Currently working on my caramel.

So I've got brown sugar in my pan.

I'm adding butter to that as well

just because it gives a lovely velvetness to that caramel.

I'm trying to make sure it's exciting,

but also that I can nail the basics

with a sauce that's something new and creative.

I've got my caramel ready to go. Toss my apples through.

Put it into the blast chiller so it could cool.

It has to be surprising and that's the brief today.

Surprise me!

ANDY: Rue! Ho-ho-ho! She's biting some off today.

Oh, really? She's doing an egg.

An egg? Yeah.

White chocolate mousse filling, passionfruit yolk,

kataifi nest.

I mean, the surprise is if we cut into it and it spills out.

That's the surprise, right? Yeah.

Sounds like a great idea. ANDY AND MELISSA: Yeah.

Declan. Tell me.

This might be my favourite one.

A choux bun... Yeah?

..green curry.

Nice.

Savoury choux pastry. Love it! Yeah. Yeah.

That's...that's a surprise. That's a surprise.

So here's hoping he can nail it because it sounds extraordinary.

And then Malissa... She's doing the lemon cake.

So when you cut open the cake,

you have an oozing centre of berries.

I like the sound of this, but, my God, there's a bit of work in this.

Oh, yeah. Yes!

This is technique, knowledge, experience.

This is where challenges like this become difficult, I think,

for our contestants.

MALISSA: I'm making a lemon cake

with a berry compote surprise in the centre.

So, my cake is now in the oven and it is looking really, really good.

I want the consistency of my compote to be not watery.

But if it's too thick, it won't ooze out.

I can see that it's a little bit runny.

Argh!

Which is really, really worrying.

And the compote needs to be a bit thicker for the surprise to work.

Ooh! OK.

More berries.

To get the consistency that I want,

I'm actually gonna chop up some beautiful fresh berries

and toss them through as well

and hope that it comes out the perfect texture.

What's happening, Rhiannon?

I'm doing a chicken curry-filled ballotine.

So, like a very French... It looks like a French... Yeah.

Looking forward to it. Thank you.

Yum!

The chicken mousse is done. It's now ready for the chicken ballotine.

The mousse needs to be beautifully silky and smooth.

But it's getting the flavours in and making sure that it doesn't dry out

and that the texture is perfect.

The pressure point is getting the chicken ballotine cooked perfectly.

Oh, man!

You're really not gonna know what the centre will be like

until they cut it open.

But I've never had a curry paste in my mousse before, so...

..I'm just hoping that this is gonna work.

Just gotta really go.

DECLAN: Ooh, yeah! (CHUCKLES) You are wild!

My goal today is to present to the judges

something that looks like an egg

but when they cut it open,

it's not an egg, it's actually a dessert.

I have my mousse in the blast chiller,

which is going to be the egg white, and I have to move on to the yolk,

which is going to be made out of a passionfruit gel.

The surprise is...that gel oozing out just like a runny yolk.

So, the consistency of the gel is very important

because it has to stay runny

after I put the egg in the freezer to set.

There is nothing worse than going to brunch and you get an egg,

it's supposed to be soft-boiled and it's hard-boiled.

Disappointed, right?

I do not want to disappoint the judges today.

MALISSA: Ah! Rue, that looks awesome! Nailed it!

I know, but I have to set it still.

I am really pushing myself to do something I've never done before.

So I hope I can pull it off.

Surprises ahoy in 30 minutes!

Come on! (JUDGES CLAP)

(TENSE MUSIC)

THEO: Hoo-hoo-hoo!

30 minutes to go.

I have my watermelon kopita in the oven.

So, hopefully, they see what I see in this dish.

ADI: So I'm currently making the puris for my panipuri,

Which are the crisp outer shell.

I'm just gonna get them nice and thin and then I'll crisp them up.

I love panipuri.

I think it is one of the best Indian street foods.

BRENT: So, ice cream's in the churner.

I'm just doing a beautiful, runny butterscotch syrup.

And I am cooking the poached pear.

Hazelnut ice cream with pear and with butterscotch sauce,

like, it's delicious.

Oh!

(COUGHS)

(DECLAN CHUCKLES)

(LAUGHS) What's wrong?

Sorry. What's wrong?

Don't worry. I've got some palm sugar here to sweeten it up a bit for you.

(CHUCKLES) (RUE LAUGHS)

I'm just under the pump and, um, and, yeah, I'm in the zone.

I'm gonna be putting a green curry chicken inside of a choux bun,

having that savoury element to it

that the judges aren't gonna be expecting.

I've got my choux buns in.

Um, I've got some crispy chicken skin in the oven with it.

I've got my chicken poaching, which I'll shred.

I taste my curry and it's beautiful, but...

It's so milky.

..the consistency is not right.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

Um...

I need my green curry to be thick enough

so it doesn't make the choux bun all soggy.

If I can't stabilise this curry inside the choux bun,

it's just not gonna work.

(WHISPERS) Oh, my goodness.

Um...

(WHISPERS) Oh, my goodness.

My green curry chicken mix is way too runny.

I need my green curry

to be thick enough

so it doesn't make the choux bun all soggy.

If I can't fix this, it could be a disaster.

All you gotta do is make that thick. Yeah. Exactly.

I need to switch on here...

Um...

..and think of something that I can do that will thicken it up.

RUE: How are you feeling? Yeah, good.

I'm sweating like no tomorrow.

Same.

I run to the pantry

and I grab some tapioca starch.

I'm gonna make a paste to thicken it up, yeah.

I just hope this works.

Otherwise, I'm gonna be serving soggy choux buns.

Oh!

I've got my parfait ready

and got the crumb that's come out of the oven.

And I've got my caramel in the freezer.

Time is ticking, so I need to be as quick as I can.

I have never tried an apple and caramel inside a parfait,

so I'm gonna go for it.

The reward for me is worth it.

I'm gonna have to cut my parfait in half

so that I can put my apple and caramel inside.

As the judges cut into my parfait,

they should see a bit of caramel ooze out

and the apples in the middle as well.

If it's too thick, it won't ooze out.

It has to be a surprise. It's very important.

15 minutes to go! Come on! We wanna be surprised!

OK, just...I need to get... a little bowl.

THEO: I have my watermelon kopita in now. All good.

I'm doing a mint oil and maybe I'm gonna drizzle that on top.

Or I'm gonna do fresh mint. Not 100% sure yet.

But just doing a few tests while I wait.

ADI: So I'm currently frying the panipuri.

I just need to fill these up. I think I'll get it done.

But it's rushed.

BRENT: Yeah, so my ice cream is done.

Texture-wise, it's nice. It's really creamy.

Butterscotch sauce, it is done.

Poached pear, they're looking good.

I think I've got it pretty much all the way through

'cause I ended up cutting it in half

and then scooping it out to get it poached quicker.

(TIMER BEEPS) Get this out. Get this out.

I've checked my lime semifreddo a couple of times

and that's looking good.

I've got my fig leaf oil done. Looks beautiful.

My vision of this fig leaf oil, it's gonna ooze out

and it's just gonna have that, you know, a nuttiness.

I'm just doing my caramel at the moment.

I'm really excited about the shio koji caramel.

It's got that real umami flavour

and I think it's gonna go beautifully

with the lime semifreddo.

I'm really loving the flavours. I'm really happy with myself!

It is so nice!

From the first cook, I can't believe where I am now.

It's amazing.

Look at this colour!

It's so beautiful!

The surprise is going to be when they do slice the sphere in half

that we have caramel oozing out

and the fig leaf oil oozing out as well.

I just hope they love the flavours.

Quick, quick, quick! Argh!

CATH: Oh, that's so awesome.

ADI: It smells go! Oh, that's what it is! Chicken skin!

Chicken skin, love. Yeah.

I've got to get this bad boy out. It's ready for frying.

Six minutes to go, the chicken skin is out,

the curry sauce is on

and I've got my pommes fondant potato in the oven.

The chicken ballotine is in the pan to get that skin beautifully crispy.

When the judges experience this dish,

I want them to go, "Oh, we're going to France."

And then they're like, "No, we're not. We're going to Thailand!"

(LAUGHS)

I'm going to have a Thai red curry sauce sort of as a jus

and then, like, some little vegetables on the side.

There is still that risk

that the whole thing's not cooked on the inside,

but I am not gonna know until they cut it open.

DECLAN: Whoo! Good job!

I'm back on track.

The curry is looking and it's tasting good.

Those flavours are really shining through,

um, and it's thickened up perfectly with the tapioca starch.

Alright.

My crispy chicken skin, it tastes great.

It's just gonna give it that textural delight.

THEO: Are you doing choux, brother? Yeah, bro.

Nice!

I take the choux buns out of the oven and they look bloomin' good.

They're nice and airy and hollow on the inside,

and nice and golden brown on the outside.

So, now I need to pipe in my mixture.

RUE: OK, let's do kataifi.

I want my egg today to be presented on a little nest.

Everything's looking really good.

I just have to put the whole dish together.

Whoo!

I think I'm working faster

than I've ever worked in any of the cooks I've been in.

Everything's coming together really quickly.

I am trying to capture an egg but make it a dessert.

Oh, wow!

It's perfect.

And the surprise is when they open it, the yolk will ooze out.

I have made the perfect egg shell

made of white chocolate and cocoa butter for my egg.

I really wanted that crack because I want to mimic an egg.

Oh, wow!

It's time to bring this giant egg

into fruition!

Oh, my gosh!

Whoo!

I am feeling so happy.

I came in with this idea.

I didn't know if I could pull it off

and it's looking like it could work.

I just hope that my egg yolk oozes out for the judges.

Three minutes to go!

JOCK: Let's go! MELISSA: Yes!

(JUDGES CLAP)

THEO: Come on!

Oh, man!

Oh, my God! You're bloody crazy.

MALISSA: Argh!

OK.

Oh, my gosh, I've used way too much time thickening up my compote

and getting all my other elements ready.

But now I've only got three minutes to go.

I haven't even started assembling my cake.

Oh, my God!

I don't know if I'm gonna finish this dish.

Ohh! Oh, my God!

Three minutes to go!

Let's go! Yes!

(JUDGES CLAP)

MALISSA: Whoo! Oh, my God.

I'm so stressed.

I need to get this done and get it on the plate.

I just need to move extremely fast.

Oh, gosh!

I'm very nervous to see how the surprise is gonna come out,

whether it's gonna ooze out

or it's just gonna kinda fall out a little bit.

I'm not sure.

(SOFTLY) Alright, alright, alright.

I've got my green curry chicken choux buns ready to go.

I'm happy with how all the elements have turned out,

so I'm thinking, "How else can I elevate this dish?"

I've got a bowl full of curry leaves,

so I wanna grind that up in the mortar and pestle

with the liquid nitrogen

to create a curry leaf dust.

My eyebrows are so thick, it's fogging up the glasses!

Creating a beautiful, vibrant, green sort of curry leaf powder dust

to go on top of my choux.

This looks like it could be something sweet

until I take it up to the judges and little do they know -

it's a green curry chicken-filled choux bun

with a coconut curry mousse, some dusted curry powder on top

and a crispy chicken skin.

Ooh, yeah!

Surprise! (CHUCKLES)

Here's a surprise!

ANDY AND JOCK: 30 seconds!

RUE: Ooh!

THEO: Ooh, that's lovely.

RHIANNON: Oh, man. Done, done.

DECLAN: Whoo!

BRENT: Wah! That's the surprise.

MALISSA: Argh!

Come on, gang! 10...

JUDGES: 9, 8, 7,

6, 5,

4, 3,

2, 1!

JOCK: That's it! (JUDGES CLAP)

Whoo! Oh, man.

Good job.

(BOTH LAUGH)

THEO: I love it.

MALISSA: This is an absolute nightmare.

I am feeling so disappointed.

I wanted to put some cream on the outside of the cake,

but I've run out of time.

So, it's not a finished cake

and I'm so embarrassed to take this up to the judges.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

JOCK: Today, under your Mystery Boxes,

we gave you a little surprise

and all we wanted in return

was a surprise somehow incorporated into your dish.

The first dish that we'd like to taste today belongs to...

..Declan. (APPLAUSE)

ANDY: OK. What did you do?

I've done a green curry chicken choux buns

with coconut green curry mousse,

crispy chicken skin

and some curry leaf powder on top.

Good amount of filling in there.

Declan.

Oh.

I think it's great. We asked you for a surprise.

And part of the biggest surprise is that you made choux pastry

and you did a savoury version.

That's surprising in itself.

The fact that you've executed it perfectly is...is even better.

Perfectly cooked chicken.

The green curry sauce folded through after it's been thickened.

You kicked at the bench thinking, "How can I make this better?

"How can I make it better? How can I make it better?"

Curry leaves...making a powder.

I was surprised. Perfect, mate. Nailed the brief.

So, well done.

MELISSA: Cloud-like, beautiful, light, airy choux.

You clearly know the flavours of green curry.

The texture that you managed to achieve, you nailed it.

You really, really did. Thank you, Mel.

ANDY: You came in and you had a great idea and you executed it.

A fiery chicken curry inside a choux bun. It is absolutely genius.

And not just that, but the technique's there to back it up.

Like, there's no getting around the surprise. Like, you smashed it.

Thank you. Thanks, guys. Well done.

(APPLAUSE)

THEO: Rock star.

Awesome. Thank you, ladies.

Well done! Thank you so much.

Congratulations. Yeah. Wow.

Next up, it's Cath.

Whoo!

MALISSA: Go, Cath!

Ohh.

Ooh! Hang on, they're rolling. (GASPS, THEN SIGHS)

No, it's OK.

It's OK. Whoo!

JOCK: OK. (ANDY CHUCKLES)

Cath, what's going on?

So I've made a lime semifreddo

and I've got a coconut crumb.

And the surprise in the middle is a shio koji caramel

with a fig leaf oil.

We should get a little bit of ooze action.

MELISSA: Yeah! OK.

Like, the oil inside, some of that,

you don't even see that in restaurants, to be honest.

Well done for actually taking it on.

Cath, I think you did very well.

Thanks, Jock.

The flavours, to me, were brilliant, you know?

That fig oil has that natural coconut aroma and flavour

which obviously tied in really nicely

with the crumb that you put on the plate.

The balance that you go into each component

and then how it ate together was fantastic.

You know, and using shio koji is not something

that you're particularly familiar with.

That's right.

So, you know, you've gone out of your comfort zone.

I'm proud of you, Cath.

MELISSA: I love how much lime zest is coming through in the semifreddo.

It... It just...

It gives it life and it really counterbalances the creaminess

of...of what a semifreddo is.

Cath, first on the flavours, I enjoyed it.

You ticked the brief. I think you did a really good job.

OK. Thanks, Andy.

Nice one, Cath! Yay, Cath!

Thanks, guys. Thanks. Oh, that's sweet.

Jock is super proud of me!

That, in itself, was probably one of the most rewarding comments

that I've actually received.

Next up - Ralph!

(APPLAUSE)

I'm happy with the flavours of the dish.

It's just, obviously,

whether the caramel's gonna ooze out.

It has to be surprising and that's the brief today,

so fingers crossed it does.

(TENSE MUSIC)

on 10 play.

Ralph, what did you make us, mate?

RALPH: So I made a cinnamon parfait

with salted caramel, apple compote inside.

So when you cut it, it will kind of ooze out.

Just not enough of the caramel.

Ralph, the flavour of the parfait is nice.

The flavour of the crumb is nice.

Love the little ginger hit in there.

It's crunchy. It's...it's pretty tasty.

The surprise element just isn't there.

MELISSA: Ralph, I love that you wanted to do something ambitious.

Despite your best efforts today, it just hasn't come off very well.

Alright. No problem. Thanks, guys. Sorry, Ralph.

Oh!

Unfor... ADI: You win some and you lose some.

Just gonna deal with this. It's OK. Yeah, exactly.

Next up it's Malissa!

Hello! Hello.

Hello.

Malissa, what have you made us today?

I've made a lemon and vanilla cake

with a 'berry' nice surprise inside.

This cake looks... a little unfinished.

Yeah.

What's the story there? Oh, I just ran out of time.

I'm hoping that all the flavours are there and it tastes good.

Is that what you were hoping for?

It would have been nice if it oozed out,

but I think the surprise is there, so I'm happy.

(LAUGHS)

Ohh, man!

It's pretty...pretty basic...

Yep. ..I've gotta say.

So the execution needed to be there. Yeah.

And it's not. Like, the cake is...is a bit dry.

OK.

The compote was OK. Yeah.

But I thought it was gonna rush out. Yeah.

I think this was probably the wrong dish.

Yeah.

I think it was gonna be a very hard dish to execute in the time you had.

Yeah.

MELISSA: It doesn't give me much contrast.

It's not showing me much finesse or technique.

I just don't think this one came through in the way that you hoped.

Yeah.

This one, for me, didn't hit the brief.

OK. No worries. Thank you! Sorry.

Thanks, Malissa.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

DECLAN: Mal.

Alright, keep your head up, alright?

Next up it's Adi!

(APPLAUSE)

I made panipuri filled with surprising flavours.

MELISSA: It has a lovely crunchy texture on the outside.

It has a beautiful creamy avocado mousse.

Sweet pops of corn.

The salty pops of caviar.

It works really nicely. Well done.

And next up - Brent.

BRENT: Got a poached pear with butterscotch sauce,

uh,hazelnut ice cream and a hazelnut crumb.

JOCK: Ooh!

The caramel sauce is great. Perfectly made ice cream. Well done.

The combination of the crumb, the caramel and the ice cream

is profoundly good.

Amazing.

Right.

Theo.

THEO: It is a watermelon kopita.

I think it's bold and I...and I love a bit of bold.

Your pastry is perfect!

To taste the pastry and see the flakiness and how beautiful it is,

that work is epic.

And you just had a little bit of a brain fart

when it came to the watermelon part of it.

(CHUCKLES)

The pastry around the watermelon is soggy.

Fair enough. Thanks, guys.

Thank you. Thanks, Theo.

Watermelon!

(BRENT LAUGHS)

Next up - Rhiannon! ANDY: Yeah!

Hey, guys.

OK. Rhiannon, what have we got?

You have a chicken ballotine with fondant potatoes.

Very nice. Very French. Very classic.

Very French. Very classic.

And what's the surprise?

The surprise is inside there is Thai red curry

and it's a Thai red curry sauce.

(PUTS PLATE DOWN) Rhiannon...

..I loved the visual surprise.

It really did look French classic.

The ballotine itself is beautifully cooked in terms of the chicken.

It's got all the beautiful Thai flavours through there

and it's well balanced.

But the mousse in the middle, it's overcooked.

So it's not a very nice texture. OK.

Just the execution, particularly in the bit that you were fanfaring,

it was just a bit disappointing.

OK.

For this to really be successful, your mousse had to be the star.

Yeah.

I think it was gonna be hard to fold all of those aromats through there

and get the same luxury sensation

that you do with a beautiful mousse.

Ballotine is difficult. Yeah.

I think there was some successes on this plate,

including the trick of the eye which was all about the surprise today.

And you almost got there, so be pleased with that.

Yeah, thanks, Mel.

Thanks, Rhiannon. Thank you, Rhiannon.

Thanks, guys!

I'm clapping myself!

(LAUGHS)

Yeah.

The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Rue!

(INHALES SHARPLY) Ahhh!

I am a little bit worried that my egg yolk might not ooze out.

I hope you ooze out. I hope you're not a hard-boiled egg.

Rue, what did you make us today?

I made the egg.

I don't know what kind of animal has an egg like this.

(LAUGHS) I don't know.

She's a big egg! I like really big eggs.

So, yeah. (LAUGHS)

Talk us through your surprise today, please.

So, um, I made a white chocolate mousse

with a passionfruit gel in the centre.

And the shell was just white chocolate with cocoa butter.

So when I crack this, will the yolk spill out or it will just be there?

It should spill out. OK.

(FAINT CRACK)

(TENSE MUSIC)

And will the yolk, like, spill out or it will just be there?

It should spill out. OK.

(FAINT CRACK)

Gooey. Gooey. Oh, yeah!

(LAUGHS) I'm surprised.

OK. (LAUGHS) That's a good start, right?

That's...that's a good start. (LAUGHS)

(EXHALES HEAVILY)

Rue.

Very well done. Very well done.

The flavours in it is really good, it's refreshing, it's nice.

You hit the brief.

I think you've done an amazing job

actually constructing this in the time

and...and getting it to look as good as it did.

I loved the visual impact of that nest.

Congratulations today. Well done. Thank you.

We received both the surprise and the delicious dish from you today.

The combination of white chocolate and passionfruit - classic.

We know that that's going to work,

so I'm glad that you held onto something

that you knew was a guaranteed win.

And I like how thin that cocoa butter, white chocolate shell was.

It was almost a light crack,

which simulates the idea of cracking an egg.

So chalk it up to a win. Oh, thank you, Mel.

Well done, Like, seriously. Thank you.

Because you did bite off a fair bit there.

And you even said that when we came around.

Yeah. Thanks, Rue!

Thank you, guys!

(LAUGHS)

Well done, Rue.

Well, we started the day off with a bang!

And that's exactly what some of your dishes were.

Rue, your egg was an absolute cracker.

It was whimsical, wonderful,

and everything that we wanted to see today, and well done.

And, of course, Declan.

Those choux buns weren't just explosive,

they were also expertly executed.

Congratulations, Declan. Thank you.

RUE: Good job.

As for the rest of you guys,

we were on the lookout for the bottom three dishes.

If I call your name,

unfortunately, you're the ones cooking in tomorrow's Pressure Test.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Malissa.

Ralph.

The last person cooking tomorrow in the Pressure Test, it is...

I'm sorry, Rhiannon. Yeah.

Ralph, Malissa, Rhiannon, go home. Get a good night's sleep.

You're gonna need it. See you then.

RALPH: Thanks, guys. RHIANNON: See ya.

Oh, dang!

Bloody hell. Damn it!

I really want to stay here.

I'm really just starting to get in my groove in the competition.

Pressure Tests are super hard.

Like, seriously, I don't need that kind of stress in my life. (LAUGHS)

NARRATOR: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia...

MELISSA: It's Nelly Robinson! (APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)

Today, you're gonna be making my...

(CELESTIAL MUSIC) CATH: Oh! Look at that! Ohh!

..an elimination inspired by a childhood classic...

RALPH: This is straight out of a fairytale book.

It looks whimsical.

JOCK: How difficult is this dish?

I'd say 11 out of 10.

..sends them down a rabbit hole...

Oh, my God! This is chaos!

..to fight for their place

in the competition.

MALISSA: There is no room for mistakes. Oh!

You didn't taste? You didn't taste it?

No. My eyes!

Captions by Red Bee Media