Original subtitles

body issues. Thank you, Tony. No worries!

they came out with guns blazing...

Here comes Cath. "Here comes Cath"! Look out!

..in a two-round elimination showdown.

RHIANNON: I'm not giving it away lightly. I'm gonna fight for this.

Rhiannon and Theo hit the bullseye in round 1.

I think you hit the brief out of the park.

Then in a duel between Cath and Brent...

This is the food I love to cook.

CATH: I'm just gonna give it everything I've got.

..they did their best to wow the judges.

MELISSA: That was lip-smackingly, smile-inducingly joyful 3D food.

But we had to say farewell to Cath.

CATH: Julie Goodwin inspired me, and, honestly,

it's gonna be exciting if I've inspired someone else.

JOCK: Give it up for Cath, everybody!

Tonight...

DECLAN: It's very close to home and very special to me.

..our final four face an emotional mystery box.

BRENT: I can harness all that energy

and give one belter of a dish.

(SERENE MUSIC)

THEO: Are you excited? Mate, top four, baby!

I can't believe I'm stuck with you three.

Glorious day. DECLAN: Let's get into it.

(HEROIC MUSIC)

Wow!

Good morning, everyone.

CONTESTANTS: Morning!

Take a moment to let it sink in.

You are the top four of MasterChef Australia 2023!

(CONTESTANTS CHEER)

Hopefully, you've left enough in the tank

for the final leg of the race.

Because the winner of this Mystery Box

will be guaranteed the first spot

in the semifinal.

Holy... Oh, yeah!

For such big stakes today, things may be looking suspiciously normal,

but we think what's under there

is something that you are all going to love.

Ooh!

Hibachi.

You may lift your lids now.

(ALL GASP)

What? Oh!

(AIRY VIOLIN MUSIC)

(CHUCKLES)

Oh, my God!

I lift the box

and I see the love of my life, Laure.

And it's like, you know,

really, yeah, it gets... it's got me.

That's my family! Shon and little Alfie.

Little photo of us on Eyre Peninsula.

So I've got some really, really good memories

tied to this photo.

Yeah, so,

it's an emotional one today.

It's a little bit of love from home.

Oh!

There's a letter and a picture from the ones that know you best.

And a secret envelope.

Do not open that yet.

Rhiannon, who's in the picture?

Um, Deano, and my daughter, Monique.

Beautiful. Do you want to read out the letter?

Yep. (SNIFFLES)

Oh, far out.

(SNIFFLES AND LAUGHS)

"Dear Mum,

"You are such an amazing role model,

"and I'm so lucky to have you to look up to."

"I miss you so much, and I can't wait till we celebrate together

"with a couple of champers."

(ANDY AND RHIANNON LAUGH)

"I know..." Oh, far out. Sorry, guys.

"I know you have what it takes to win,

"but no matter what, you'll always be number one in my eyes.

"Go get 'em, tiger.

"Over National 45 Waterski Champion."

(OTHERS LAUGH) Did you just add that in?

Well done, Rhiannon. That must have been so tough.

Oh, bloody hell.

I haven't seen my family for months,

and I feel like nearly every time I talk about them I cry,

because I'm getting to the point where I'm like,

"I want to see you guys."

(SNIFFLES)

So for me, I like to use that love, use that energy

and put it all into my cooking.

Theo, who's in the photo? Who have you got?

My lovely partner, Laure, and our little dog, George.

Beautiful. How long you been with Laure for?

Three and a half years now.

She made the move from France pretty much for me.

Is she French or Aussie?

She's French. Is the letter in French, or...

I don't know, actually. I hope not. Let's pop it open, mate.

(ANDY AND THEO LAUGH)

Uh... This is gonna be hard.

(CLEARS THROAT)

"My dear love,

"You know you are my whole life.

"You have been my most caring and attentive best friend.

"Regardless of the outcome,

"you will come out a winner from this experience.

"I love you deeply and forever. Laure.

"Bravo, bravo, bravo. You are a real example for me."

Aw! Theo, put a ring on it, mate!

Yeah, bloody oath.

She sounds like a very special woman, eh?

Yeah, she is a very special person,

and I want to give her, you know, everything,

so it's...it's gonna be an emotional cook, I'm sure.

Mate, you've got to harness everything that you just said...

Yeah. ..and put it into a dish.

'Cause it will be extremely powerful if you can.

Thanks.

Righto, Declan.

Who's in the photo?

My partner, Talya, and my dog, Soul.

Righto, let's open her up.

(TENDER MUSIC)

"Hey, Dec, to be proud is an understatement.

"Whenever you put your mind and strong dedication to work,

"you achieve incredible things."

Oh, she's cracked me. (LAUGHS)

(SHAKILY) Um...

"We all miss you so much

"and we're looking forward to having your energetic, silly self

"back in our lives, brightening up our days.

"I want to remind you to stay calm, focused, be yourself,

"and trust your knowledge.

"Love you so much, Talya and Soul."

Nice work, mate.

Physical letter,

I don't think there's anything more powerful

and emotional than reading something from your loved ones.

No, it's...it's beautiful, you know?

Little letters she'll put in my lunchbox,

so it's very close to home and...and very special to me.

Righto, big man Brent, who have we got in the photo?

Got my wife, Shonleigh, and little Alfie.

Righto, the hard part now. Gosh.

Whew.

"Drapes, top four, here we go."

(SNIFFLES) "So excited for you, baby.

"It goes without saying that Alfie and I are so insanely proud of you

"and how far you've come...

"..and how far you've come in this competition.

"You know, you're our hero.

"We are in awe of you...

"How hard you've worked tirelessly on your mental health

"since 2021.

"And here you are,. All of your hard work is paying off.

"And we hope you're so proud of yourself for that."

"Alfie says, 'I miss you, Dad, and I love you, Dad..."

(VOICE CRACKS) "And when you come home,

"can you please get me a chocolate from the shops?"

(ALL LAUGH)

"You are already a winner in our eyes,

"but MasterChef Winner 2023 will look so good on you.

"So go and get it. We love you so much. Shon and Alfie."

Whew. Nice work, mate.

Wow.

Whew! Jesus.

(WISTFUL MUSIC)

Mate, it's been a journey, no doubt about it,

and it sounds like you've got your two rocks.

Yeah, definitely.

What did they say when you said,

"I think I'm gonna give this another crack"?

It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, you know?

To...to...to know that I'm ready for it.

And they just fully backed me.

And it goes to show how important it is to have a rock in your life

that you can sort of let out everything of, you know,

the day or the week, and, you know, they still support you

throughout everything.

Well, mate, it's pretty safe to say that they are that rock,

and you're doing a hell of a job.

Hell of a job.

So the secret's out.

Today's all about family.

And in those envelopes,

all your loved ones have chosen a dish

that they've been missing the most,

cooked by you, while you've been here.

We want you to bring us that dish.

But we want the MasterChef version.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Show us and your family what you've learned

since you first walked through those doors.

Righto, Rhiannon, we're gonna start with you.

What dish has your family asked you to make?

I legit wouldn't know. Deano, rissoles.

(ALL LAUGH)

"The dish that Deano and I have missed the most is laksa."

That's perfect!

Theo.

Peri-peri chicken pita and sweet potato fries.

Alright, Brent.

"The dish I've missed is the delicious char-grilled

"pork belly satay that we first ate in Bali

"and became obsessed with."

Declan, what do you think's gonna be in that letter?

Like, seafood. Like, a prawn pasta.

Alright, let's have a look.

(LAUGHS) "The dish of yours I've missed the most

"is your chilli prawn pasta."

(ALL LAUGH) Oh, well done!

Alright, everybody, you will have 75 minutes

to cook the dish that your family have hand-picked for you,

but remember, we want the MasterChef version.

Both the pantry and the garden are open for you,

and we are only looking for one top dish

to move straight through into the semifinals.

The cooks that bring us the three least impressive dishes

will head into tomorrow's Pressure Test

from where someone will go home.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Good luck. Your time starts now.

(URGENT MUSIC)

Pasta, done. (ALL LAUGH)

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

MELISSA: Come on, Theo.

THEO: Oh, whew!

Bucketloads of inspiration coming today

from this lovely lady.

I moved to Paris to learn about bread, you know,

but I also found the love of my life,

my partner, Laure.

And when Laure came to Australia, we got, you know,

takeaway Portuguese peri-peri chicken,

and now she just loves it when I make it for her.

I think she's missing this the most

because she had to go back to the takeaway version of it.

Like, we would eat this every day if we could, but... (LAUGHS)

So, this dish really takes me back to being with Laure

and our life together,

cooking it in my backyard.

Got the fire going,

Laure's sitting there with a glass of wine,

so I'm hoping that I can harness those feelings

and put it into a great cook.

Theo! Hey, buddy.

Portuguese chicken. Oh, so good.

They don't really have that influence in France for Laure,

and she loves it.

And then I was always trying to do it better and do my version,

and I just need to keep elevating my food to keep her, I think.

Nice. And that will never stop, my friend. (LAUGHS)

Exactly, yeah, yeah. OK.

How you gonna MasterChef it?

Well, MasterCheffing it,

I guess, is getting that balance perfect.

Yep.

Elevate this food today,

you could be walking straight into the semifinal.

I'd love that. Yeah, I'm ready.

Good luck. Thanks, mate. Cheers.

Yeah, look, that was a bit of a tough one,

reading out that little letter from Shon,

'cause, you know, my family means everything to me.

That's why I'm doing this, you know?

To set up a good life for my favourite people.

So, Shon has picked Balinese pork belly satay for me.

This is very much inspired by a dish

that Shon and I would eat in Bali.

Yeah, look, we've spent a lot of time in Bali,

just a lot of good memories over there.

Obviously, you know, surfing,

and, of course, the cuisine's amazing.

Like, this is a dish that we get

from a certain restaurant over there, and we love it.

So it's pretty special.

Now I just need to be able to really elevate this dish.

Sweet. Sweet.

Well, the room is full of emotion.

Now you've just got to bring that dish to life.

You've got one hour to go.

(JUDGES CLAP)

(URGENT MUSIC)

Today I'm cooking my famous chilli prawn pasta.

Talya's chosen this dish 'cause it's her favourite of both of ours.

I'm definitely the cook in the house.

But, yeah, I just love cooking every night for Talya.

And this dish is something I can cook on a weekly basis.

The pasta's resting,

and now I'm moving onto that prawn-head sauce reduction.

Declan. Andy, how are you going?

Good, mate. Interesting one for you, to do the old chilli prawn pasta.

What are you thinking?

How would it differ than the one that you made back at home?

I'd like to sort of mix it up

and put semolina in my pasta.

A bit different, and I really want those prawns to stand out.

I'm gonna throw a spanner in the works.

OK.

I feel like you've evolved,

you know, as a cook.

I think you might need to push a bit

to MasterChef it and really show your growth.

Yeah.

I don't know whether this is now you.

Yeah.

Yeah, wow.

OK.

I don't know whether this is now you.

Yeah.

Yeah, wow.

I've been cooking the old chilli prawn pasta

for Talya, my girlfriend,

but I'm thinking I can pivot and get a dish done

showcasing really where I'm at at this current stage.

I've got all these beautiful umami aromats here going along.

I'm gonna make you a banging South-East Asian prawn noodle...

..dish.

This is it. Yeah. Alright. Let's do it.

Time is of the essence. Yeah.

Chilli prawn pasta is definitely

a day-one signature dish,

but I think my skills and my knowledge and my style of cooking

has been changing and evolving, you know,

since coming into the MasterChef kitchen.

Looks like I'm ditching that pasta.

So I'm gonna turn this into an amazing South-East Asian dish

which represents me now and my kind of cooking more.

Prawns are good.

Shallots are good. Chilli.

Chilli, mushroom, garlic.

Alright, let's go.

So I need to quickly grab a few more ingredients

to put together this South-East Asian rice noodle broth.

Beautiful. Alright.

Tapioca. Tapioca rice.

Look, apologies to Talya for not doing the original dish

that she had in mind.

Oh, sheesh.

But I know she would love this dish as well,

and this is just showing my progression

throughout the competition.

I don't want to come back in here. I do not want to come back in here.

I don't either. I don't either.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

Oh, my God, so my family have selected laksa for me to cook.

Do you know how bloody good that is? I was expecting rissoles.

Bloody gravy and mash.

Like, seriously.

It's actually not what I thought they'd choose.

Maybe because it's what I actually love, you know?

Like, I always get in trouble for putting too much chilli in.

So maybe they're thinking of me today.

Rhiannon. Hey, Mel.

Are you stoked for laksa? So bloody stoked.

They couldn't have picked a bloody better dish.

What kind of laksa are we going to have from you today?

Oh, you're just gonna get a beautiful...

I'm making myself cry with chilli! (LAUGHS)

It's not emotions, I promise.

It's chilli, not emotions! It could be a bit. (LAUGHS)

So it's gonna be a beautiful broth.

I'm gonna, you know, like, I would never have strained it before,

I would have never made my own noodles.

Are you making your own noodles? Yeah.

Thanks, Mel. Oh, you've got nice cold hands.

I think I'm gonna be able to showcase a lot of what I've learnt.

I'm just really gonna build on it,

way more than I ever would at home.

So I want the judges to be able to slurp some noodles,

and I just want to chuck in my North Queensland flair

with a pop of lime

and a sweet, salty, sour flavour bomb from the broth.

I think some of the best cooking comes from your emotions.

So today, after reading that letter from my wife, Shon,

and little Alfie,

I can harness all that energy and give one belter of a dish.

How you going, buddy? Yeah, good, good, good.

That's good.

Spruce it up, get it going.

And I think that I've figured out

how I'm gonna really elevate this pork satay.

Brent. G'day.

Pork belly satay, though. Yeah.

We asked you to do a MasterChef version.

Yeah.

Is this heaps different than the one that Shonleigh would recognise?

Oh, yeah, definitely.

Today I'm going to make a fresh sambal

and then a, like, sort of a fried sambal.

Doppio sambal. Yeah.

So this is gonna be, like, a pimped-up version...

Yeah. ..of this dish.

100%.

Sending it today.

Different sambals,

I'd probably never do this because of the intensity,

but I think the flavours of the two different ones

will really help tie everything together.

So, the reasoning for two sambals

is one's sort of pickle-y and fresh,

you know, shallot, lemongrass,

Kaffir lime leaves.

And I want to get depth and the spice from the second one.

Yeah, if I can get those two together,

they should balance out perfectly.

(INTENSE MUSIC)

We're loving this smell in the MasterChef kitchen right now,

but you've only got 30 minutes to go.

THEO: I want to supercharge my peri-peri sauce.

Mm. Yeah.

I've got birdseye chillies, long red chillies,

some African dried chillies,

smoked paprika, onion powder.

Peri-peri chicken, baby.

And it just tastes better than any I've made at home,

like, I've actually stepped it up today.

Whew! That peri-peri is 'peri-peri' hot, I'm telling you.

In the beginning I was thinking of being at home with Laure,

cooking away, lovely, lovely,

having a little kiss.

But now it's starting to really sink in.

What a task she has actually set me here.

I've got to cook the chicken, parboil the sweet potato fries,

cook the pita bread.

I'm just completely frantic right now.

But, you know, I'm just so happy

that I'm doing the dish that my beautiful partner, Laure, loves.

Not fiancee yet.

Need some cashola for that ringola.

(LAUGHS)

How excited are we?

The kitchen smells amazing already.

It's just magical.

I went to visit Rhiannon,

and she is doing her version of laksa,

and normally she would use packet noodles to do this.

She's actually making her own rice noodles,

which is a step forward for her.

I'm just so thrilled.

Theo, peri-peri chicken,

I'm hoping for him to be able to really show

how he can build flavour differently to the way that he did before.

Yeah, just take it, like 10x

in terms of layering flavour, having some finesse about it,

and just blowing us away.

I went with...with Brent. Yeah.

His satay pork,

Shonleigh's had, you know, a good version of that,

but now he's been here for a couple of months,

he's just stepping it up.

He's got a doppio sambal on the go.

He's cooking with confidence.

He's completely present. He's focused. He's positive.

He's thinking of his family and little Alfie.

I just...I'm excited.

No, he's not excited! I know! (LAUGHS)

Speaking of confidence,

I am very, very excited about Declan,

because I hear that there's quite the departure

from the original idea

to what he's actually cooking right now.

Yeah, and he's drawing on, yes, the memory,

but also every bit of skill and knowledge

that he's learned in his time in the MasterChef kitchen.

I think that's what this challenge is all about.

RHIANNON: Yeah, I feel good about this dish.

I've just got to make sure that I execute it properly.

It's good to show off what I've learnt in this time,

so hopefully I do it justice.

Yes, I've got 20 minutes to go with this laksa.

My broth is in the pot

and it's time to get onto making my noodles.

So, I'm doing my noodle mix

and it's not looking as sticky as usual.

But I'm sort of thinking, "You know what?

"Let's just give it a crack and get it in the boiling water

"and see what happens."

No.

That did not work.

I'm looking at it, and it's not beautiful, separate noodles

that are boiling around.

It's just one big hunk of dough.

I don't even know what I've done.

I don't have time to think about it.

The end of the cook's coming up way quicker than I was ready for,

and I'm thinking, "Oh, my God, what am I gonna do?"

No.

(TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES)

I just did a batch of noodles and they didn't work out.

So currently I have the broth on.

Um, I've got some boiling water.

I'll get back to those noodles in a minute.

And, um, yeah.

(EXHALES)

A laksa is all about the noodles and the broth, right?

So if I can't get good noodles,

I don't bloody have a finished dish.

Imagine that.

My family have set a laksa,

which I love, which I'm confident in cooking,

and if I can't get noodles in it, like, seriously,

it's not a laksa, it's a bloody soup, isn't it?

Rhiannon. G'day, Jock.

Where's the photo of the big man? Oh, you're gonna laugh.

It's me doing karaoke with a beer in my hand.

That's, like, my life,

my daughter and Deano.

I don't have all the other kids in the family,

but, you know, that was...

You can explain that when you get home.

Talk to me. How's the cook going?

Oh, I just ballsed up my noodles.

Ooh. Yeah, ooh.

Rice noodles are not easy to make. No, I know.

And I never make my own. I wanted to do it today.

I've got no time, and I want it to look pretty for once.

The thing is what you want to focus on and concentrate on

is the broth.

The broth. That's...

If you get that wrong, you're in trouble.

So focus all your energy in there.

I need to get this broth beautifully balanced,

and it needs to have that depth of flavour.

Like, this is a big cook.

It's the spot in the semis

and it's also getting out of that Pressure Test.

Like, seriously, who doesn't want that?

So at this point all I'm working on is balancing that broth

with my fish sauce,

my palm sugar and my lime juice.

After that, I'll go back to making my noodles,

and Bob's your uncle.

I don't know. Let's do this.

DECLAN: Order in the court. Order in the court.

So I've done a major pivot from my original idea,

and I've changed the whole theme of my dish

from this chilli prawn pasta

to this Thai-inspired barbecue chilli prawns

with rice noodles and a broth.

Bing, bang, boom.

Yeah, I'm so happy with my pivot.

I've just got to execute it now.

My noodles are in a place where I want them to be.

I'm confident with the prawns.

So I need to put the remaining amount of time

into really making this broth

spicy and punchy

and full of those South-East Asian aromats.

That's good. Need some citrus as well.

Did I wipe something... (LAUGHS)

ANDY: Oh, yes!

(LAUGHS) Shit.

I got no more tea towels.

(LAUGHS)

Is it gone?

(INTENSE MUSIC)

Yeah, so, basically, my sambals are just about done.

You, you, done.

Now I'm ready to start working on the pork.

The cook on the pork's so important today,

because, you know, pork is where

you get that real Balinese flavour.

So I've opened the pressure cooker,

look in, and...and...

Oh, yeah.

It's sort of gelatinous, it wants to nearly fall apart.

It's so good.

All I gotta do now is cook the pork belly over the hibachi

and glaze it, continually turning,

just trying to get that caramelisation.

Going alright, big man? Yep.

Yeah? What have you got?

Two sambals, there's the pork, there's a side salad.

Yeah.

Is everything balanced?

I've just got to just...

It needs one final balance.

Honestly, make sure everything's perfect,

'cause, like, all four of you are cooking insanely well today.

Yeah.

THEO: So, I've got my peri-peri chicken on the 'hibach',

and I have been basting this throughout this whole cook

while I'm doing everything else.

Do we think there's a few too many flames in that hibachi?

Look, a lot of peri-peri revolves around a bit of flame.

Yeah. So you need a bit of it.

He's off to the side, though.

He's just gonna have to keep an eye on it, I think.

(CHICKEN SIZZLES)

He's got a fair bit to do, actually.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Just take more coals out.

Yeah, it's flaming hot, isn't it?

You're gonna be chasing to get them.

How long to go?

Oh, seven...seven minutes, seven and a half minutes.

I've just looked at the clock.

I'm cooking this chicken,

I've got pita bread,

I've got sweet potatoes that need to be cooking.

I can't even... What am I doing?

Where's the time going?

What is going on?!

(TENSE MUSIC)

(MUTTERS INDISTINCTLY)

Seven minutes to go

and I've got my chicken on the go, I've got...

..I've just put my bread on the 'hibach'.

I've got my fries that are just going in the deep fryer.

Seven minutes!

This is, like... Laure, what are you doing to me?

This is crazy!

Ooh! Jesus!

RHIANNON: So, earlier on in the cook, I ballsed-up my noodles

and Jock said, "Just focus on the broth

"and make sure it's perfect."

So I taste it and I'm like, "Oh, my God!

"That tastes way better than I used to make in Townsville."

I've added a little bit of finger lime

to chuck in my North Queensland flair.

And I'm like, "Yeah, this is a good dish!"

I hope the judges think it is too.

And then I realise...

..I still haven't bloody made my noodles.

I haven't really got time to make another batch.

So I'm gonna use packet noodles.

Rice noodles? Where are you?

You know, it's not ideal, but as long as my broth

and everything else is perfect and balanced,

I might still have a chance here today.

Oh, God. Shaking like a leaf.

Five minutes to go!

(JUDGES CLAP) JOCK: Let's go, guys!

ANDY: Come on, everyone! Step it up!

(FRANTIC MUSIC)

(THEO MOANS)

(MUTTERS INDISTINCTLY)

The last few minutes, and it's time to bring this pork belly together.

So I check in the hibachi.

Pork's gelatinous

yet it's caramelised

and a really spiced sauce.

I've got that zesty salad and the fresh sambal.

And I hope that this sweet, sour cooked sambal

is gonna tie everything together.

Look for that jug! Where'd I put that jug?

But this dish is all about the harmony.

Um...what was I doing here?

So I'm hoping that, you know, the judges get my vision

and, you know, eating it all together is where it comes alive.

Prawns. Baste prawns, baste prawns.

Big brush.

Let's go, Brentles.

Two minutes to go - now I'm straining down my broth

and I'm finally seeing this dish come together.

That is noice!

Overall, I've done a major pivot from my original idea

and I'm really happy with my dish.

I'm hoping - dependent on how the other three go -

this could get me up on the gantry tomorrow.

(MUTTERS) Chilli oil.

Come on, you lot, bring it home!

Only one minute to go!

ANDY: Come on! BRENT: Oh, one minute?

THEO: Is it one minute to go?

One minute! Is it one minute?

MELISSA: Theo, how's your chicken?

Have you got a plate, Theo? Yeah, I've got a plate. I'm good.

I'll... Whoa!

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Chicken's on the hibachi.

Bread's on the hibachi.

Season your fries, season your fries, season your fries.

Yep.

Chicken. Chicken, Theo. Chicken.

You know what's coming.

Final touches!

JUDGES: 10, 9, 8,

7, 6, 5,

4, 3, 2, 1.

JOCK: That's it! That's it!

(BOTH SPEAK INDISTINCTLY) BRENT: Well done, bruv.

Whoo!

I, for a split second, didn't think I'd get it all up

and I pushed it to the very end.

But I'm super happy that I put up a great dish for this young lady.

And I'm...I'm stoked with it.

Stoked? I'm starting to sound like Rhiannon.

(CHUCKLES)

MELISSA: I have a question for you.

Can you feel the love?

The love from us, the love from you, the love from your families?

And here's something to love -

the person that brings us the best dish today

ends up in the semifinal.

And the first dish we'd like to taste belongs to Brent.

(JUDGES AND CONTESTANTS CLAP)

Brent, what did you make?

I've made Balinese braised pork belly.

What do you think Alfie and Shonleigh

would think of this dish of food?

Shon would love it. Would remind of good times holidaying.

Alfie'd probably stick his nose up at it.

(LAUGHS) Too spicy?

Too spicy, yeah.

But yeah, look, they're so proud of me coming back

and getting this far and...

I think that's sort of shown in my cook today,

'cause when you're comfortable cooking,

you get a pretty good dish out of it.

Beautiful.

Yeah, the sambal - get plenty of that, Andy. You'll enjoy it.

(LAUGHS)

It's not too spicy, though. Oh, what a let-down.

(CHUCKLES)

Brent. (CLEARS THROAT)

I'm like, "Man, the glaze he's got.

"It's, like, eh."

Your two side-hustle sambals.

Like, you have the sweet one

and you're like, "That's just too sweet, man."

And I'm like, "Man, where is it?"

I tell you where it is - it's in the memory that you had over in Indo

where you go to a warung and you have everything together.

And that's when the magic happened -

when it's together, not when it's individual little bits.

Yep.

This is

unbelievable, mate.

What this plate of food demonstrates to us is

a profound respect for what you love

and an innate ability to bring it to us

in a language that is all of your own.

Understanding how to treat pork belly

like it is the food of the gods

is a really incredible thing.

You have that gorgeous gelatinous fat,

you have beautiful, sweet, succulent pork.

And then you add flavours upon flavours upon flavours.

The smoke, the spice.

Fantastic.

This is MasterChef-winning food.

So strap yourself in because if you keep cooking like this,

world's your oyster.

Thanks, Mel.

Uh, Brent, mate,

I knew that you had that kinda three-element thing down pat.

Protein, salad, sauce.

But then you add two different types of sambals

that just complement each other

and just clean everything out.

I don't think there would be many people,

after what you went through in your season,

to be able to get back on the horse

and say, "I'm here to win.

"I'm here to cook the best food that I'm capable of."

And, mate, that plate of food right there is exactly that. Well done.

Mate, I'm so proud of you.

Like...

Well done.

It's a bloody tear-jerker.

It is a tear-jerker!

Next up, Rhiannon!

My noodles haven't worked out

so I had to use packet noodles,

but I've got the flavours that I want into this broth.

I'm gonna soak that bad boy.

So hopefully that will get me in the semifinals.

Applications for contestants are now open.

Head to the link and apply.

ANDY: Rhiannon, what have you made?

I've made a prawn laksa.

How pumped were you

when you read you were cooking laksa today?

Oh, so pumped.

Honestly, you never know what my family's gonna choose.

And to choose something like this, I'm like, "Oh, yes!"

How do you think you went?

Obviously the noodles probably aren't quite right.

Like, I wanted to make my own

and they were going to be more a rounder-style noodle.

But yeah, I went pretty good. I'm pretty happy.

Reckon we have a...have a taste.

(TENSE MUSIC)

Rhiannon, this is a wonderful modern Australian interpretation of laksa.

It really takes a deft hand to dictate the balance of richness

and the balance of lightness in this.

And this broth demonstrates to me

just how much you know about South-East Asian flavours

to be able to kind of balance the funk that you love,

the spice, the acidity, the freshness -

every single thing has a time and a place in your dish.

And I love that we can see

your character and your signature in this.

There is joy in this bowl of food

and I'm really, really happy to experience it.

Oh! Thank you!

I've got goosebumps! (CHUCKLES)

Really, really good.

Such a testament to how far you've come in this competition.

Yes, you didn't get your rice noodles made,

but it's the right choice just to stop

and focus all your energies on the broth,

because the broth is where it's at.

It's so silky and just the right amount of heat.

What's more impressive is you've got this little, you know, Aussie touch

of finger limes through there.

And every now and again you get this pop of finger lime

and it just lifts the acidity of your broth

to the point where it just is, like, wow!

When you get home, your family are just gonna go, "How lucky are we?"

Thank you so much! Oh, my God! Thank you!

So good!

Good job. Thanks, mate.

(SIGHS) What a relief!

The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Declan.

Ooh.

Broth it up!

Alright, Declan. What did you bring us today?

I've done Thai chilli prawns

with rice noodles in a prawn-head broth.

So you transformed chilli prawn pasta into this.

Talk to me about this bowl of food.

To be honest, going into the cook this morning,

I didn't think I really stood a chance

up against these three.

But from where I started, finishing on a dish like this,

I definitely think it gives me a better chance.

Declan, the beautiful thing

about making it this far in the competition

is progression.

The progression today was shown by the food on the plate.

The prawns are epic.

Like, butterflying them out,

rubbing them with all those aromats, mate,

that just wasn't even a thing

once upon a time with you.

(LAUGHS) No. And the broth.

You loaded it up with aromats.

You let that tick away the whole time of the cook.

It is incredibly well done, mate.

I'm very, very proud of you. Thank you.

Just for going, "You know what?

"This is what I've become." Yeah.

"Prawn chilli pasta was what I used to be.

"But this food right here, this is who I am."

Thank you.

I think the biggest things for you to celebrate here are

your resilience, your willingness to be flexible,

and your boldness to pivot.

The aroma of the broth is fantastic.

And I think in combination with that punchy chilli oil,

it's everything that you want.

Thank you so much. Thanks, Declan. Well done.

Good one.

Cheers, Brent.

Thank you.

Last but not least, it's Theo.

I sort of ran out of time. Plated this up with the dying seconds.

So it could be great...

..or it could be not so great.

What have you made us?

Peri-peri chicken

with sweet potato fries

and pita bread.

Alright. We're gonna taste it.

ANDY: Theo.

I can guarantee that is the best version you've ever cooked, period.

(LAUGHS) Yeah.

The chicken - this was always gonna hang on the chicken,

and I think you've cooked it so perfectly.

Like, that, for me, just screams 'peri-peri chicken'.

You want that small edge where it's nearly overdone

and then caramelisation just seeps into the chicken there

and it just smells and looks unreal.

It's what I love as well, so it's... Yeah.

And you only took it off with 30 seconds to go.

Yeah. Like, you're a madman, but anyway.

It was perfect.

Theo, I'm so proud of you, first of all,

for really going the extra distance.

You made the peri-peri, you got the consistency right,

you cut off the low-hanging bits, you tended your coals.

You kept basting and turning, basting and turning,

basting and turning, basting and turning.

It's all these things where, you know, months ago,

you thought you were cooking really, really well.

And now I hope through that cook

that you're able to see how far you've come.

And just sit in that for a moment and be really proud of it,

because it's amazing and we're all super proud of you.

Thanks, guys. Thank you. Thanks, Theo.

Congrats, mate. Thanks.

There were lots of emotions out there today.

And over here.

You put your hearts and souls right into those dishes.

But only one of you can be the first cook through to the semifinals

of MasterChef Australia 2023.

Each and every one of you were on absolute fire today.

There was not a weak link in the chain.

Declan,

mate, your confidence in the kitchen today,

it showed us how far you've come

and how much further you could really go.

Thank you.

Theo.

Yet another brilliant dish.

Rhiannon,

the energy and love that you brought to the kitchen today

was present in every mouthful of that beautiful laksa.

But dish of the day...

..was Brent.

Well done, mate.

Brent, mate, you know what that means.

You are through to the semifinals, big fella!

Oh, my God!

Far out!

Talk to us. What's going through your head right now?

Oh, so many things. I mean, like...

Coming today and, um, you know,

see, read all those letters,

everyone here obviously felt it from their loved ones too.

And just to put up a good dish like that and get into Finals Week,

it's just massive.

And as Rhi would say, I'm stoked.

(RHIANNON LAUGHS)

Declan, Theo, Rhiannon.

Two of you will be joining Brent in the semifinals.

And tomorrow's Pressure Test

will determine which two.

It's going to be the most important cook

of your competition to date.

And with everybody at the top of their game,

we know it is also going to be one to remember.

We'll see you tomorrow.

Thank you. See you later.

DECLAN: Good job, buddy.

Good work.

Good job. Good job, Rhi.

Yeah!

NARRATOR: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia...

CONTESTANTS: Oh, hey!

Hello, guys. How are you?

Peter Gilmore! (LAUGHS)

..the Terminator of the Pressure Test returns...

You're not getting the recipe, so you've gotta remember it. (LAUGHS)

I reckon it's 30g. 30?

I don't think it's 50. I reckon it is 50.

..and to make it through to the semifinal,

they'll need...

Trying to remember the flavours, the balance.

Far out, mate!

..total recall.

Can't do it. Can't do it.

Captions by Red Bee Media