Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Previously, on MasterChef Australia...

Give it up for Mikiko Terasaki!

This top TikToker...

Ooh! Here we go.

..made incredible eggs...

Oh!

..look overly easy.

(GIGGLES)

Aw, she's so cute! So cute!

Then...

Make us a cracking dish that uses egg

in a clever and creative way.

..their efforts were eggs-emplary.

Whoa!

The use of the egg component was textbook.

An absolute ripper dish.

But Steve had to say hoo-roo to the MasterChef kitchen.

Crocodile Dun-Steve, you're a living, breathing example

that it's never too late to follow your dreams.

Tonight, a mystery box holds the keys to incredible creativity.

Here we go. Let's go!

Yes!

Ooh, it's a small mystery box.

It's like a pinch-me moment every day

when I walk into this kitchen to see that I'm actually here.

And the start of a new week is always exciting.

It's a small one today.

Let's go, crew!

Hey! What are you doing down here?

It's a mystery box day.

And who knows what lies under that mystery box?

Good morning, everybody.

CONTESTANTS: Good morning!

It's a new week, a new day and a new mystery box.

Ooh! Guess what?

We're officially halfway through the competition.

Wow. Get out of town!

Well done, legend.

Well done, guys.

It is a huge benchmark in the comp to get halfway through.

Because it just makes you go, "OK, I survived all that.

"I can do that again."

Oh, yeah.

Hopefully. Right? Yeah.

We're past the fake it till you make it point.

Yeah.

I'm still doing it, 12...10 years later.

Same. Same.

First order of business -

time to find out what's in the box.

Yeah.

Go on, lift the lid.

(CONTESTANTS OOH AND AH)

This is amazing.

Got beautiful Asian sauces to use from the mystery box.

Oh, OK.

In your mystery boxes, you have chilli oil...

Ah, yes!

..soy sauce,

oyster sauce...

..XO sauce, hoisin sauce and sesame oil.

I think we've been very kind today.

So kind. Oh-so kind.

Yes!

Let's go.

Mimi, was that a fist pump?

Yeah. it was.

These sauces are going to be the secret to your success today.

We want you to use at least one of these to cook us

a showstopping dish.

Yep.

Righto, crew. I've got the rules. You ready for them?

CONTESTANTS: Yep.

How long do you want? Two hours?

You've got 75 minutes!

And you can cook us whatever you like.

The world is your oyster. Sauce.

Saw it coming from a mile away.

You'll be happy to know - pantry, garden, they are open.

So zero excuses.

Here's the bad news.

Bottom four will be going straight through to tomorrow's pressure test.

Oh, my God. Wow.

So cook us something delicious today so you don't have to tomorrow.

We all ready? Yes, Chef!

75 minutes starts now!

Go, go, go!

Darrsh opens the door and ushers everyone else through.

He's such a gentleman.

Jesus Christ, that is a huge fish.

I absolutely love sesame oil.

So today I'm using the Lee Kum Kee sesame oil

as the highlight of my dish.

So I'm making up a dish today.

I'm making a scallop and prawn

aguachile tart.

And aguachile is a citrus-cooked seafood dish.

Oh!

So hopefully I get the balance

of the nuttiness of the sesame oil and the citrus right.

I'm also making a seaweed tart base,

and I'm infusing it with the flavour of seaweed.

It's risky to do this dish...

..because I'm inventing it.

So...fingers crossed.

These are the lifeblood of all my favourite childhood dishes.

If I was in this position, I would do everything.

I would pop out three dishes, 'cause 75 minutes is plenty of time

to do a steamed dish, a braised dish

and then do a stir-fry.

I wonder if everybody is going to be cooking

Asian and South-East Asian dishes,

or if people are going to branch out a little bit.

And I wonder how many of them are going to be able

to do something sweet.

I actually don't know.

The exciting thing is we have given them

the gift of dreams under the mystery box today.

So I am pumped for some good dishes. Yeah.

Should we go have a look? Yeah.

So I should be using the soy sauce, the sesame sauce and the XO.

So today I'll be doing a Asian stir-fry

with butter-poached prawn.

Ah!

Feeling pretty saucy today with this challenge, that's for sure.

I'm going to be using the soy sauce, the chilli sauce

and the oyster sauce.

I'm going to go with some beef short ribs.

Uh, finish them in the oven

so they're really sticky and yummy.

Shoulder to shoulder, babe. I know.

I'm merging my Italian side with my Asian side today.

So my mum and my dad will be proud of me.

I'm making an XO scallop wonton with a shiitake and ginger broth

and the chilli oil on top.

Yum!

Yeah, Lachie, pops.

My confidence is a little low right now.

Lately, I've felt a little bit confused trying to do too much,

and last week I was bottom three and almost went home.

In my life, I've had really, really tough times.

I think that's only made me more resilient.

My mum was very ill.

She got diagnosed with Huntington's disease.

Which is an incurable degenerative disease.

And after a long, long battle, unfortunately, I lost my mother.

I also have the same disease.

And my daughter...

Thank you.

..she will most likely have it as well.

Here you go. Thank you. Thank you.

I think about that every day.

She's the joy of my life.

She really helps me to think of all the positives/

Using my hands and being active, that keeps everything at bay.

Lily!

I love to cook,

and I want to make that love and passion

for food a reality.

And I want my daughter to know that dreams can come alive.

I need to push forward and get as much out of this life that I can.

So I just need to draw back and cook the things that I love.

Today, I'm going to be using the sesame oil, the soy sauce

and the chilli oil.

I'll be making fried kingfish wings with a smoked egg mayonnaise.

Fish is expensive these days, but fish wings still are cheap.

And that's exactly where my mind went to with these sauces,

because they go so well with fish wings.

I've been using kingfish wings for a number of years.

I buy whole fish and always the wings.

They're usually like a secondary product,

but I find they're like the best part of the fish

because there is really nice fat content in there.

So this is really how I love to cook.

I feel really good, and I'm hoping I can redeem myself today.

Love it.

Pressure test tomorrow,

and trust me, you do not want to be in it.

You have one hour left.

Come on, let's go!

Let's go, Sue, let's go!

Yes, let's do this.

What?

Nothing, mate - I'm just checking you out.

How do I look? Good. My word, you look good.

I wish I looked like you.

I was thinking the same about you. (LAUGHS) Bullshit!

Today, I'll be making a stuffed chicken wing

with a sticky Asian sauce.

This is a dish that we just love eating at home.

The kids love it.

"Dad, when are you going to make them chicken wings again?" You know?

So it's food from the heart for me.

I'm feeling a little bit emotional today.

We're halfway through the competition now,

and I've never actually felt more aligned to my purpose

than what I'm doing now.

So it's a lot that is at stake.

Ice-cream machine, Sumeet?

Have you gone fully bonkers?

I'm going fully bonkers. OK.

I'm going Asian sauces in my dessert.

Black sesame ice-cream with some soy sauce in it.

Soy caramel marble cake. Right.

That's going to go into a coconut milk and matcha cone.

In 75 minutes?

Yes. You have gone bonkers.

You are unbelievable.

Oh, my God.

Oh, I cannot wait.

I was mentioning,

who is going to be brave enough to make a dessert?

Oh, well, there you go.

Brave or stupid, we'll come to know. Brave or crazy!

Execution is key.

Timing is going to be key.

You got a lot to do, so we'll leave you to it.

Good luck. Yeah. Thank you so much.

Thank you. (LAUGHS)

Oh, yum!

I'm excited for this mystery box.

We have six sauces

and we have to use at least one of the sauces.

Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.

I'm using soy, sesame oil and some chilli oil.

Ooh, that is pretty spicy.

OK. Oops.

So these condiments are traditionally used

in like stir fries, in Asian cuisine.

I really want to showcase the fact

that these condiments are very versatile

And it can be used in, like, just anything, really.

So making a sous vide kingfish.

Fishy, fishy!

And I'm gonna have a miso beurre blanc

and also a macadamia puree.

So I'm doing a very French-Japanese-inspired dish.

Is that a puree?

Yeah.

I'm happy with the macadamia puree.

Let's go.

And the kingfish is in the sous vide.

So, right now, I'm working on my beurre blanc.

So, traditionally, for a beurre blanc,

you would be putting white wine

with a white wine vinegar and shallots.

So today I'm doing exactly that.

But I'm gonna use sake instead of white wine.

I'm known for loving sake.

I'm also going to add miso into it.

Perfect.

And soy from the mystery box.

So it's like a Japanese-French fusion.

Whoa, cool.

That's been used.

The consistency is so French, but the taste is Japanese.

So I personally like it.

But...

I think I'm most nervous

for Jean-Christophe trying my beurre blanc.

It's so risky doing a fusion version of a traditional French sauce

for a French chef,

because he might think it's blasphemy.

What I'm known for in this competition is flavour.

Oh, my God, that is yum.

And balancing complex flavour.

I will put a bit of soy sauce in there, actually.

So today, I am feeling energised to be creative

and push the boundaries.

Hey, Sav! Hello, judges, how's it going?

What have you got? I'm doing a dessert.

Say what?!

That's the exact reason why I'm going the dessert.

Because I love eating a lot of these sauces,

and I feel like a lot of them have that sweetness

as well as the saltiness and the umami,

which I think will, um, go well.

Right. OK.

What's the...what are you doing as the whole dish?

The vision is the soy sauce-poached pear.

I've got a miso and ginger Chantilly.

I'm getting the caramel on to make, like, a sesame and peanut brittle,

almost, yeah. Brittle, yeah.

Have you done anything like this before?

Hell no.

But I want to get another dessert notch under my belt as well.

And I think I'm going to back myself on flavour

and being able to balance flavour well.

That's exactly what this dish is about.

So...

I can't wait to see your dish.

Sav, good luck.

Thank you. We are so happy to see that.

Alright.

The biggest pressure point for this dish

is the actual balance of the soy sauce

in the poaching liquid for the pears,

so I am tasting the liquid as I go.

Oh, that is salty.

Oh.

Mm.

Can you believe that, in a savoury sauce challenge,

we have desserts on our hands?

I think people are trying to be almost too clever.

Too creative, and they're forgetting about...

And they're forgetting flavour!

Sumeet, she's really just going all out today.

Like she's doing an ice-cream cone with a marble cake.

Whoa!

With a black sesame and soy ice-cream.

But if she can get it right, it's gonna be ground-breaking.

I'm just making my pancake batter for my ice-cream cone.

Alright...

I do want my ice-cream cone to be crunchy,

so I need to give it enough time in the oven to sort of dry out.

So I just have to deliver.

That's it!

The secret to success is in the sauce.

You've got 45 minutes to go.

What are you making? Short beef short ribs.

Oh, yes!

I'm beefing it up today.

Yum!

Hey. Hello. I'm just chilling, mate.

Yeah? No formalities here.

Just saying hi.

I'm working on my sauce for that stuffed chicken wings.

I'm using a few of those beautiful condiments from the mystery box

to make a real nice sticky sauce.

This gooey, sticky Asian-style sauce is going to be the hero of the dish.

I put a lot of time and effort into this,

and it's got a beautiful taste in the sauce already

that just makes you want to lick your fingers after you've eaten it.

Looks like it's going to come together really beautifully.

Let's get that simmering down so we can move on to our next job,

because I think time is going to be really tight today.

How's that? Hey, Chefs.

How are you going? What's going on, mate?

So I've just boned the chicken wings out.

Now I'm going to stuff them with pork mince, a bit of sesame oil

and a bit of soy in them, just to give them a bit of flavour.

I'll have time to try a couple,

just have a taste myself,

and then we'll see how it comes along.

It's going to be very tricky to get, like beautiful, crispy,

shattering batter on the outside. Yep.

Like, chicken cooked perfectly. Yeah.

There's a lot going on in that chicken wing, mate.

Interesting. Challenging. That's it, Chef.

Good luck. Thanks, guys.

Can't wait to see. See you soon.

Wow. Don't hold back!

You have 30 minutes to go.

Come on, let's go!

I've marinated my kingfish. I've breaded them.

The eggs are smoked.

Let's make that mayo.

This smoked chilli oil mayonnaise is going to pair so well

with these kingfish wings.

And it's just going to marry in perfectly. Righto.

So I've got all my ingredients for my mayonnaise -

the smoked eggs, some salt...

..and some oil, and I start blending away.

Why is that not working?

I just cannot get my, um, my mayo to emulsify right now.

I'm not actually too sure what's going on.

It's whether I've...

..because I've smoked the egg yolks or not.

I don't know whether that's got something to do with it.

Nothing's happening.

It's just turning to a runny liquid.

I don't know what's going on.

I'm trying to think back.

I've got one egg yolk left to use that I've smoked.

So I just need to figure out what the go is.

Why? I don't know what is going on.

Have I done the wrong thing here?

(BLENDER WHIRRS)

Why? I can't get my mayo to emulsify.

I'm pretty stressed out right now.

What's creeping in the back of my mind is I've just...

I haven't made it on a few cooks,

and I just don't want this to be the next one,

because this dish represents who I am

and what I love about cooking.

But luckily... (LAUGHS)

..David's next to me.

Dave. Yo.

Can't get my, um, mayo to emulsify. Ah? Too thin?

Yeah, it's way too thin.

How much, um...

..liquid, vinegar do you use again?

Oh, shit.

It's the vinegar. I forgot to put vinegar in.

So I race off to the pantry, get some Japanese rice vinegar.

Put it in.

Bingo! Mayonnaise is back on.

Oh, thank goodness for David.

It's great consistency.

I'm just getting my chilli oil into it

to give it some nice flavouring.

And then I'm going to chuck it in the freezer

so I get that nice consistency that I want.

I'm feeling pretty good right now,

because this is actually what I love to cook,

and I'm actually starting to be quite confident in my chances.

Push that sauce to the max!

You have 20 minutes left!

Come on! 20 minutes!

Oh, God. OK.

My black seaweed tart shell is in the oven

and I've got all my elements going for my aguachile filling.

My scallops are curing in the fridge in the citrus mixture.

I've pickled some apple and radish.

I'm going to make a prawn head mayo,

and it's going to go with crispy rice.

Time to take my tart shells out of the oven.

Yeah, baby!

Let's do it.

My tart shell looks great.

It's got that crispy texture

and the colour is ridiculously stunning and fun.

Ta-da!

I love it. Everything is on the right track.

So happy times.

I think I'm going to be pretty safe today.

How's the stir-fry coming along?

I've definitely got, like, good colour on it,

good caramelisation.

And I've got chilli butter-poached prawns.

Short ribs are in the oven.

They're coming out now. Woo!

So I just want to put it in this stickiness now.

Is that your spoon? No, it's mine. It's yours.

Right now, I'm Speedy Gonzales.

I'm just frying off this XO paste

just to put in the scallop mixture for the wonton.

And then I'll have to focus on this broth.

We don't have a lot of time left,

so I want to make sure this broth has got as much flavour as possible.

Get it, girl.

My ice-cream is set.

I love the taste of that black sesame ice-cream.

And I've got a beautiful vibrant red raspberry sauce reducing.

And I'm just making my pancake ice-cream cone.

The stress of it gets to me.

A lot is riding on the success of this dish.

I need to stay away from the bottom for today.

Sumeet. Hi.

You're being very ambitious today.

You're really pushing your boat out.

Well, you know, like we said, it's halfway down the line.

We've got to lift up our game.

Lots...lots of elements, Sumeet.

Not much time to plate them.

How much longer do you need before you can start doing this?

Because you have quite a lot to assemble.

And not that much time. Another five minutes.

I'm going to start assembling.

I'm going to run into the garden and get some flowers as well.

Off you go! Quick!

I'm worried that's not enough time.

Cold things, hot things...

About four or five of them.

And she's still letting stuff dry and freeze and whatever else.

Now she's gardening.

Attention! Attention!

10 minutes left.

10 minutes. Let's go!

Come on! Allez, allez!

Oh, my God.

Tell me you're under control. I'm under control.

Good, good. I'm under control.

Nat. Hi.

How's this whack little creation coming along?

Just...it's getting there.

Guess what my dear French friend is interested in.

Uh, the beurre blanc? Oui!

Not just any beurre blanc.

Miso sake, soy...

OK, how confident are you, trying to combine

all the different condiments? Yeah.

How do you think you're going to be doing?

I'm very worried.

I'm really hoping these flavours go together,

because I don't want it to be, like, overpowering.

So do we.

(LAUGHS) So do we.

Good luck. Thank you.

Wow.

So many sauces, so little time to go.

You have five minutes!

Come on, everybody, keep pushing!

Last five.

Oh, OK. Bit of brown sugar.

Gotcha.

Five minutes to go, time is running out,

but everything's just coming together.

The sauce is perfect.

And the stuffed chicken wings are ready to come out of a deep fryer.

I need to get these chicken wings cooked to perfection.

But, look, I'm confident that they'll do

what I need them to do.

It works at home, so I think we can pull this off.

So I pull one out just to see where it's at.

(SOFTLY) Oh, shit.

Josh, ain't no thing like a chicken wing.

Unless... They're not done right.

You're sweating it. Yeah, I'm sweating it.

I just cooked one, and it's a bit under.

So... That's raw.

Yeah. That one was not what I wanted.

That is completely undercooked. Yeah.

Yeah, that one was not what I wanted, so...

That is completely undercooked.

I'll make sure they're cooked a bit more than that.

Yeah, you're running out of time.

I've got, like, three minutes on the clock.

I know I'm going to need that time to cook these chicken wings.

And I've got to get them out and get them plated up.

I'm really running out of time.

It's going to come down to the wire.

So just keep pushing.

Ooh la la!

It's getting so serious.

Three minutes to go!

I have got to start plating up the soy sauce-poached pears.

So I taste everything together.

Oh, yummy. Does it taste good?

I think so.

And I actually really like it.

Yum.

But I am aware of the fact that it is very soy forward,

and that will be pushing the envelope.

But I'm here to take the risk, not play it safe.

Cooked? Yeah, man.

I get my fish wings on the plate,

and they look phenomenal.

I think that chilli oil mayo is going to be so good

for these wings today.

It's delicious and it's got that perfect zing.

Really happy with it.

I think this could be right up there for the top dish.

I hope.

I'm piping my mayonnaise on my seaweed tart shell.

The scallop aguachile is going to go on top,

topped with crispy rice

to bring forth the nuttiness of the sesame oil.

I really like the flavours here and I think it's looking great.

So all my elements are just coming together.

The black sesame ice-cream, a raspberry sauce,

coconut, matcha cone and a soy caramel marble cake.

So I really need to push myself and get these things on the plate

as quickly as I can.

Always a little bit stressful.

Putting it all together, this is crunch time.

Team, you do not want to be in tomorrow's pressure test.

You have one minute! Come on!

OK.

Only 30 seconds! Come on, 30 seconds!

I would have loved to give them chicken wings

another few minutes, you know.

I don't even know if they're crispy, but there's no time left.

And if you don't get nothing on the plate,

you're going into the bottom four.

That's all there is to it.

Say it with me, crew.

10, nine...

Shit. ..eight, seven,

six, five,

four, three, two, one.

That's it. We're done.

Far out.

Whoo! Oh, God.

How does that happen so quick? I know.

Thankfully, I've completed all my elements,

but these are hard cooks.

I want to do well.

You know? I've come this far.

I never expected myself to get here.

This really means a lot.

It means more than I probably express.

Not just for me, but for the family as well.

So...

Oh, my God.

Frickin' hell. I just... (EXHALES)

That's why we have a roll of paper towels under our bench.

(LAUGHS) To wipe tears off after our cook.

Far out. Time's up.

I look at the plate.

There's stuff-all sauce on these chicken wings.

I've got, like, literally a couple of little smears on them,

most of it's still sitting in the saucepan.

Yeah.

This hasn't worked out like I want, that's for sure.

We gave you six sauces

and asked you to use at least one of them

to create a delicious dish

worthy of keeping you out of the bottom four.

We think there are some amazing dishes out there,

so let's get into it.

First dish we'd like to taste belongs to...

..Lachie!

Alright, let's do this.

My love of food is riding on this dish, so I'm hoping

for a little bit of redemption here,

but I just don't know

what the judges are going to say.

That looks amazing.

Oh, get in my belly!

Yum.

Lachie, what is it, mate?

Fried kingfish wings

with a chilli oil-smoked egg yolk mayo.

Any other of the sauces in the mystery box in there?

The fish had a quick marination in soy sauce and sesame oil.

I hope this tastes as good as it looks

because that looks so good.

Everyone happy with lime? Lime it up.

Lachie...

(BLOWS RASPBERRY)

..that is epic.

That is epic.

(APPLAUSE)

I love fish wings as well.

Um, that is my favourite part right there

because it is just so succulent, like...

Oh, yeah, I'm going again.

And the coating on it,

like the use of soy, sesame, buttermilk...

And then the crispy outer layer is delicious.

Then you get onto your mayo.

I thought it was going to be too heavy.

You know, it's like rich on fried, on rich, on rich, but a good douse

of that lime and then a spike of the extra little crispy chilli

on the side, and you're in heaven.

Please continue to cook like this.

This is your food. It's good enough for us.

And it's good enough to get you deep in the competition.

Great stuff today, mate. Thank you.

Um, Lachie...

..I think it's super epic.

Oui, mais oui! It is fan-tas-tic.

I love you. Thank you.

Thank you, Chef. Lachie.

I love that you're standing there with this stillness

that I haven't seen with you for a while,

probably since the first day.

You had a little bit of a scenic route back to,

I guess, feeling comfy in your own skin in a way,

and it completely translates to your food.

Lachie, you are just living proof

that it doesn't matter how bad your last cook is,

so long as you listen and you learn from it.

You've created the most incredible, really restaurant-standard dish.

There's not a single thing I would change on that.

Lachie, I saw the blood drain and then come back up.

Yeah, that's exactly... That's exactly how I felt.

Get out of here while you can, quick!

Thank you.

Oh, yeah.

That feels good.

Oh!

The next dish we'd like to taste is Alex!

This is my soy and orange pork belly with rice and salad.

I think it's really lovely. Spices are beautiful.

I can taste the anise and the clove.

Great rice.

It was great rice. Yes!

Harry.

Let's go, Haz!

Whole fried flounder.

There's some grated daikon, dressed bean sprouts,

and a celery and brown onion pickle.

The cooking of your fish were equally and evenly cooked

perfectly on both sides.

Oh, it's lovely.

Gill. Yeah, Gill.

Wonton ravioli.

The beauty of this dish is the filling.

The XO could have easily overpowered the scallop,

but how you've married those two together was so well done.

Thank you.

The dish we'd like to taste is Sav's.

Yo, Savi! Woo!

I'm trusting my ability to balance complex flavours,

but this dessert is a bit out there.

Go, Savi!

And it is soy sauce forward.

So this is super risky.

Hello, Savindri. Hello.

Sav, tell us what you've made.

I'm calling these my Soy-cey Pears.

So I've done a soy sauce-poached pear

and a miso and soy Chantilly.

And a bitter brittle with peanut and sesame.

My mind is exploding right now.

We've had some wack stuff, but that's probably takes the cake.

Did you only use soy sauce from the sauce?

I added a little bit of the oyster into the poaching liquid as well,

just to have a little bit of sweetness.

Lady!

But I stopped there. I didn't use anything else, so...

You're a wild child.

Sav, um...

This is challenging me.

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Sav...

I'm finding it very soy forward to the point where...

..I don't think I would go back for a second mouthful.

Because you've had to use quite a lot of sugar

to balance the soy,

It makes for quite a cloying mouthful of food.

Yeah.

Sav, I was ready to take a mouthful

of a dessert with soy sauce forward

and go, "I love that.

"That is delicious."

But I haven't done it yet.

And it was just too jarring.

Your balanced dishes, they're just seamless.

Whereas this felt like it was just like, "Whoa!" You know?

And maybe in a savoury, you can get away with that sometimes.

But like, definitely not in a sweet.

So I admire you going, "You know what?

"I am pushing the boat out today,"

but I just...I feel like you missed the mark.

I found the cream quite refreshing.

And then I liked the bitterness of your brittle there.

It looks like resin. I think it's really beautiful on the plate.

So while there are elements that work separately,

they're not tying together for me.

Sorry, Sav.

Que sera sera. Thank you.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Let's go, Mimi.

I'm so proud of myself for pushing with this experimental idea.

I think I've highlighted sesame oil

in a beautiful, creative way,

and I hope the judges are proud of what I've done today.

Hi, guys. Wow!

(WHISTLES)

Mimi, what have you made?

So I've made a sesame and citrus scallop aguachile

in a seaweed tart shell.

And you used which sauces?

And I used the sesame oil.

I can smell the sesame oil from here.

Let's eat.

Oy.

Mimi!

I love where you're at in the competition.

You've definitely got a really creative lens

on every time you step into the kitchen, which I'm digging.

For me, the use of sesame was dynamite in this.

It wasn't overpowering, but you knew it was there,

and it felt like a core ingredient in this dish,

which is really well done

and a massive box ticked in the challenge today.

Mimi, that is so much going on here.

You've got lemon zest, you have nuttiness and toastiness

that's coming from the sesame oil.

I think it makes for a very refreshing tart,

like it's just not what you'd expect from a tart.

And I really like it.

Now, this little shortcrust.

I've made millions of short cuts, but not like this.

Right.

So it's not just colourful, but you deliver the support,

the base and the crunch.

Well done.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Yes! Well done. Nice work.

(LAUGHS)

(SIGHS)

Way in the back - you're up, Pezza.

These chicken wings don't look like as crunchy

as what I'd normally have made,

so I'm just hoping that there's enough sauce on them

to get me through.

What have you got here?

I've made my Asian-style stuffed chicken wings for you today.

Pezza, you don't look overly happy.

I just seemed to run out of time.

Started playing with 10 seconds to go.

So I got one spoonful of sauce all over,

but a big pot of sauce there that

I just didn't get on the plate, so sorry, guys.

In that situation, you just get the pot

and you just dump it. Just dump it.

Mate, you ran out of time.

It's as simple as that.

The filling is nice, it's seasoned well,

but it's not crispy,

there's no sauce.

I'm worried for you.

Yeah, Pezza, it's a huge shame

because when you're doing sticky Asian-style chicken wings,

you need that sticky sauce.

And if you don't have that sticky sauce,

you need to make up for it with the perfect amount of crunch.

So today it looked like you've shot your own wing.

So good luck to you. Thanks, mate.

Pezza...

Come on down, David.

XO stir fry snake beans

with a butter-poached prawn and chilli oil.

David, your butter-poached prawns are perfectly done.

But the stir fry, it's really dry.

OK.

Let's go, Darrsh.

Let's go, Darrsh! Woo!

Banana fudge sundae and soy peanut brittle.

Mate, if you're going to serve me a sundae, though,

like, give me about seven scoops.

Sure. Yeah, it was for a baby.

Um, then you're bananas.

Like, they've got to be in the pan,

sucking up all of that toffee goodness

that you got wrapped around 'em.

You just started 'em way too late.

Sue! Yeah, Sue.

Spicy and sticky Asian short ribs.

Sue, you know how to do the sweet, salty, sticky glaze.

But there wasn't enough of it there.

Even though it's tasty, it's inedibly dry, Sue.

Let's taste your dish, Sumeet.

Woo! Go, Sumeet!

Woo!

Oh!

Looks amazing.

Sumeet, what have you cooked?

I've made a soy black sesame ice-cream

with a soy matcha coconut pancake

and a soy raspberry sauce.

So you've used soy in all of those elements.

The soy brings the earthiness and the saltiness to the dish.

What do you think your family's going to think

when they see that you've plated up this sort of food at this point?

My family, really close to them.

I have this cheer squad behind me.

So I said to my husband the other day on the phone, I said,

"I really want to do well."

And he's just...

Guffaws of laughter he burst into, going,

"Mate, you've already done so much."

I just remember calling my mum and going, "I'm still in."

And she goes, "Oh, Andrew, you're bloody joking!"

(LAUGHTER)

Thanks, Mum.

Now that we've met her, I get it.

Just gonna eat it straight...

Sumeet.

(EXHALES)

You've been very brave.

The soya sauce in the ice-cream -

bit of saltiness, bingo!

Now the raspberry...

How the hell you managed to keep that colour?

That soya sauce

into the raspberry is delicious.

Ah, thank you, Chef.

You've gone all out on this dish.

The ice-cream itself was really creamy, quite velvety.

And I like the way there are those little crispy coconutty bits

that actually do remind me of a waffle cone.

I find it really interesting.

I really liked it.

So well done.

Thank you.

You're a wild child, huh?

Next up is Nat.

I'm terrified taking this up to Jean-Christophe.

He is gonna either have his mind blown away

or be a little bit grossed out.

Very pretty. Oh, thank you.

Nat, what have you made for us today?

I made a kingfish with macadamia puree,

a sake and miso beurre blanc

and chilli and sesame oil.

Let's see how you went.

(PUFFS)

Right.

Now let's go down to the first things,

which obviously, as a Frenchman -

beurre blanc.

Normally, a beurre blanc doesn't contain so much acidity.

OK? So when you have that much vinegar,

it's called a beurre nantais.

But that's fine. Who cares?

I mean, it doesn't matter.

What matter is you've been very adventurous

and daring to put Japanese flavours -

I mean, the miso, the soy sauce - into your beurre blanc.

Your sense of combination - fantastic.

Really? Brilliant.

It is.

Oh! Why did you not put more on the plate?

Because it was so intense. Oh!

It's just extraordinary how you managed that.

Nat, I agree with Jean-Christophe.

I particularly like your beurre blanc.

I think it's got this lovely savoury note,

but also this sharpness

that just kind of cuts to the back of your palate

and coats the entire thing.

Amazing job.

For me, the dish is very, very good.

Beautiful, seamless, tasty food

and visually stunning.

The fact that you can have this concept and then put that

onto a plate with such conviction and skill,

it was really well done.

So great stuff today, mate. Thank you.

Woo!

You had quite the 'sauce' of inspiration today.

(NAT GIGGLES)

Got one giggle.

(LAUGHTER)

With so much choice, we expected to see dishes that were dressed

to impress, and some of you really met those expectations.

One in particular.

Lachlan!

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Lachlan, mate, you deserve props for that.

Those fish wings, they were succulent,

the batter was crispy and the mayo, it was punchy.

We could not get enough.

Well done, mate.

Finally, I've been waiting for this moment,

and I've done it on kingfish wings!

This is something that I've loved to cook,

and to showcase it here in the MasterChef kitchen

and get top dish...

(EXHALES)

I feel like I'm here for a damn reason.

This challenge seemed to throw a few of you.

Some of your dishes had serious problems.

If I say your name, please step forward.

You're cooking in tomorrow's pressure test.

Pezza.

David.

Sue.

Sav.

I'm not exaggerating when I say

tomorrow is going to be the toughest cook yet.

Go and get some rest.

You're really going to need it.

See you, everybody. See you tomorrow.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia...

You'll be making my...

..cherry blossom.

(ALL GROAN)

..it's a pressure test so beautiful...

SUE: The most sublime piece of art.

I'm gobsmacked by what I'm looking at.

..it's mind boggling!

My brain is short circuiting.

I have done one of Darren's pressure tests in season 12,

and I've only just started talking to him.

It's true.

Captions by Red Bee Media