NARRATOR: Previously on MasterChef Australia...
..it was a Service Challenge with a farm-fresh twist.
You need to choose your ingredient carefully
because you won't know which course you're cooking
until after you pick your produce.
Oh, wow.
DECLAN: Mmm. Let's get some of them.
And the luck of the draw...
What did you pick? BOTH: Dessert!
(LAUGHTER)
Then they took that amazing produce and produced brilliance.
RHIANNON: This is just so amazing.
THEO: Teamwork, eh?
It looks perfect.
BRENT: It's gonna be the thing that either wins it for us
or loses it for us.
ANDY: It's brilliant. JOCK: Yeah.
It's so impressive. It is a very, very clever dish.
It's a really tasty, interesting, unique dessert.
Malissa, Theo, Declan and Brent,
you've all won a spot in tomorrow's Immunity Challenge!
Awesome!
Tonight, someone wins a guaranteed spot in the top 5.
THEO: To make this immunity worthy, the dish needs to be epic.
And it's their final shot at an immunity pin.
RHIANNON: Yeah! Whoo!
Morning! Morning! Here we go!
Oh, Shannon's here.
What's going on over there?
A microphone!
Just my singing debut.
MALISSA: Whoo-hoo!
What is that?
Morning, everyone. CONTESTANTS: Morning!
Today's a big one. There's a lot to smile about.
A guaranteed spot in the top 5!
(CHEERING) Come on!
Not to mention it's your very last chance to win an immunity pin.
Malissa... Yes.
Believe it or not, this is your fifth time in an Immunity Challenge.
Is it? Yeah.
Oh, wow! You've done it all.
You've won a pin, you played a pin. Yeah.
Here you are again going for another one.
I'm gonna try my best.
Speaking of pins, are you gonna be the only person this season
with two on your apron, Brent?
Yeah. I'd...I'd love it.
What do you get if you play another pin?
Find out when you do it. (LAUGHTER)
Theo, sad news.
You're the only one in the line-up who has not won a pin.
ANDY: Oh! MALISSA: Oh!
CATH: That can change today!
I'm thinking today is my day. I'm throwing elbows today.
I'm getting into it. I love it. I feel it too, man.
Yeah. (LAUGHS)
Something we can all agree on
is that a truly outstanding dish has multiple factors.
But today, it's your job to highlight one.
Sound.
CATH: Oh!
We want you to bring us a dish that taps into the sounds
that make us feel something when we eat.
Think of the crunch of the perfect tempura batter,
the crack of sugar on a creme brulee,
really, really slurpable noodles.
All the sounds that make a good dish great.
I love really bold, you know, crunchy sounds.
So I'm excited about this.
So, you've got 60 minutes to bring us a dish
with a sound that makes us salivate.
It can be anything you want,
but you've gotta make it loud and you've gotta make it delicious.
We've set up a special microphone
so we can capture the sound of the dish when we eat it.
You bring us the best dish with the best sound,
you win immunity from Sunday's elimination,
guaranteed spot in the top 5
and you will play for...
..one of these for the very last time this season.
Good luck. Your 60 minutes starts now!
RHIANNON: Yeah, guys! CATH: Come on, guys!
MALISSA: Running to the pantry,
I'm still not 100% set on an idea yet.
But then I see Pop Rocks
and I know that that's gonna make a sound
and I think, "Let's use the popping candy to make a dessert."
Go, Mal! Ah, here we go, Mal!
I'm really excited about the popping candy. It's a bit of fun.
Put it in your mouth and it's gonna pop and make a lot of noise.
(POP ROCKS POP SOFTLY)
Can you hear it?
So much popping!
And it's so yummy!
(POP ROCKS POP SOFTLY)
(LAUGHS)
Ha ha! The teammates, eh? Ah, hello!
RHIANNON: What have you got there, Brentles?
BRENT: Oh, a couple of crabs.
I know that all the boys are kinda leaning towards a savoury dish.
So I'm really gonna stand out from the crowd if I make a dessert.
I'm thinking...I'm gonna make a frozen mousse with my popping candy.
I know that's something I can do in 60 minutes.
That's the first thing I need to do.
And then I'm gonna roast some figs and make a vanilla tuile
for that little cracky noise.
It's gonna be different.
It's a little bit out there and I haven't done this before.
But I think it's a really fun way
to experiment with different foods and flavours.
CATH: Come on, Dec.
Come on, Theo. RHIANNON: He likes his kangaroo.
Mm-hm!
(MICROPHONE POPS)
(DEEP VOICE) Hello.
(JUDGES LAUGH)
It's a good challenge. I like the sound of it.
Uh...
Yeah. I would love to double up on my bling today.
Get another immunity pin.
That would be, at this time of the competition, really good, I think.
The immunity pin is always a massive advantage
and we're getting to the pointy end now,
so anytime you can snag another pin is one step in the right direction.
I'll just do it again. Why not?
I want to make a curry crab for starters.
You know, you get a tostada
and you bite into those and then they just crack.
But I'm worried about the crab curry.
Maybe if it's too wet, you'll get a soggy tostada
that doesn't crack
and the name of the game today is it's gotta make a sound
and, you know, no-one likes a soggy tostada.
MELISSA: Bring us a dish we like the sound of. 45 minutes to go!
RHIANNON: Yeah! Yeah, come on! CATH: Come on, Theo!
Go, Brent! Come on, Dec! Come on, Mal!
Come on, guys!
Hey, Declan. What do you call this?
This is a favourite of mine. Yeah?
Um, pepper steak. Sizzling pepper steak.
I've got my rice on. I've got my beef, uh, velveting.
Just browning off my veg now.
That skillet's gonna get nice and hot. Get this bad boy in the oven.
'Cause I think it's all coming down to the sizzle.
Well, bring us the sizzle. Thank you, guys.
Good luck, Dec. CATH: Come on, Dec! Come on, Declan!
(CATH AND RHIANNON CLAP)
RHIANNON: Oh, yum, Brent!
Come on, Malissa, get that tuile in, love.
Oh, the garden's looking nice.
I'm loving the MasterChef world for so many reasons.
You know, we have this amazing garden
that we can just grab these fresh ingredients
like betel leaves.
I love it!
I love picking things for myself
and I love knowing where it all comes from.
I think that's super important,
so I just wanna stay in the competition as long as possible.
The inspiration for this dish comes from
our...our mate Grace that was in the competition
that did a crispy betel leaf.
(CRUNCH!)
And it worked really well.
And so I think you can get some success
from what other people have done as well.
Grace's betel leaves are, I think, gonna work really well.
The only issue I have is tempura is quite hard to do.
So, is it gonna stay crispy?
And then I want to cook kangaroo.
I often do it at home
with the same sort of American-style spice rub
with sugar, coriander, cumin, oregano - that kind of vibe.
Theo. How are you, mate?
Hey, gentlemen, how are we? That looks good.
Uh, it's a marinated kangaroo. Nice.
I want to do crispy betel leaf with the kangaroo sliced up
and then a nice little fresh salsa on top.
How...how are you gonna cook it? Um, medium-rare.
Medium-rare? I'd be going light... Close to rare.
Yeah, I would be going not "close to rare", I'd be going rare.
At the most.
I was gonna say "at the most". But you didn't. (LAUGHS)
(LAUGHS)
Got any...any other crunchy element?
Yeah. No.
I think it's the same all the way around.
Yeah.
So, yeah, everyone's got a crispy, crunchy or sizzly element.
Yeah.
But who is gonna absolutely nail the dish?
Good luck, mate. Thanks, guys.
The judges are asking me if I need more of a crunch element.
You know, if I want a chance at that final immunity pin,
the dish needs to be epic.
(TENSE MUSIC)
Argh! (DECLAN LAUGHS)
SHANNON: Don't crack under the pressure.
There's 30 minutes to go!
RHIANNON: Come on, guys! CATH: Come on, Declan!
Come on, Brent!
Let's go, Malissa!
Go, Theo!
THEO: I'm cooking kangaroo with crispy betel leaves.
The best dish is going Beat the Chef.
I have been against a pro chef before in this kitchen,
but I didn't get the win.
So I wanna redeem myself today.
Alrighty.
So the cook on the kangaroo needs to be rare.
If it's not, the kangaroo will dry out so fast.
It's an unforgiving meat, so I really need to be careful of that.
So now I've got my betel leaves, I'm gonna do a test one
because I want to know how crispy I can get my tempura batter.
You know, I'm going for maximum crispness, if that's even a word.
But I'm still trying to think of how I can elevate the dish
and, you know, add another element of crunch
to make this immunity-worthy.
So I've got to keep that mind, ticking over.
MALISSA: I'm just gonna test one.
It might be a bit too chunky, but I'll see.
I'm making a popping candy dessert.
I'm working on my vanilla tuile.
I've been very lucky.
I've done five immunity cooks and I've won it a couple of times.
But I want to make third-time lucky. I know I can do it.
It's really important to make sure that today of all days
that I make a perfectly thin tuile because I need that snap.
RHIANNON: Did you put popping candy in that too, Mel?
Yeah.
I'm going to do another tray as well.
I popped a little bit of popping candy on half of my tuiles
just to experiment
and see if I can get another element of sound to this dish.
CATH: Good. Well done.
Thank you!
Ooh!
Hey, Melissa. Hello! How are you going?
You're doing a dessert? Yes.
I saw these in the pantry and I thought, "Have a bit of fun."
How is it all going? Good.
So I've made like a frozen mousse with the popping candy inside.
I'm happy with that. That's in the freezer.
Great. That's, uh, setting.
My tuile's in the oven.
I'm roasting some figs.
So I'm just actually having a lot of fun.
So your personality on the plate? I think so!
Very bright and happy! A little bit crazy.
OK. You said it. (LAUGHS)
Thank you. (CHUCKLES) Ahh.
Wow. When was the last time you had popping candy?
RHIANNON: Awesome smells up here, guys.
CATH: Yeah. They're all really different dishes.
Yeah. Yeah. Aren't they?
BRENT: I've got my tostadas. These are really thin.
So I've got hot, hot oil to make them beautiful and crunchy
and they just break.
And then I've got the sweet, vibrant salsa.
RHIANNON: How are you going, Brentles?
Yeah, good. Good?
And I'm making my crab curry.
I don't want it to be wet 'cause it'll just ruin the tostadas.
So I figured out, "OK, I want a dry curry."
So I've got to sort of sacrifice a bit of flavour.
There's no coconut in it,
so it's not, you know, that coconut-y, sweet curry.
Just dried chillis, curry leaf, there's tomato in there.
So hopefully it all sort of works.
RHIANNON: Come on, guys! You've got 10 minutes to go! Let's go!
You're going really well!
CATH: Ohhh. How's that, Theo?
THEO: Yeah, I'm pretty happy with it.
Oh!
I'm slicing up my kangaroo. I think it's rare.
That looks beautiful, Theo! Yum!
Which is exactly what I want it to be.
And then with the betel leaf, I've decided to double-fry them.
I think it will create that thunder-crashing crunch, like...
Just like the best feeling you've ever had.
Then I've got my sauce with the burnt spring onions.
But the judges are really pushing me today,
so I still think I need something that's going to elevate this dish.
It's crunch time! Five minutes to go!
Come on! Move it! RHIANNON: Come on, Theo! Pick it up!
Where's anchovies?
Did we get those anchovies done, Theo?
So I've got some anchovies. I'm going to deep-fry them.
And this is gonna give that little bit of crunch of top
that I was thinking about.
CATH: Oh, look at that! Come on!
RHIANNON: Come on, Malissa! Finish it off!
MALISSA: We're almost at the end of this challenge.
It's time to plate up.
I'm happy with my frozen mousse, my roasted figs and my fresh figs.
And I've got the popping candy tuile.
RHIANNON: On track, Mal?
Popping candy doesn't work.
Oh, did it just melt in it, love? Yeah.
But they've completely melted. It didn't work at all.
That's super disappointing.
So I'm gonna spoon a little bit of extra popping candy on top as well
just to make sure that sound is really there.
I'm trying to do everything I can to get into the immunity round.
(CRUNCH!)
CATH: Oh, they look good, Brentles! RHIANNON: Come on, Brent!
Looking good! Look at that! Oh, yum, yum!
BRENT: It's crazy.
60 minutes has gone so quick again.
How's the tostadas there, Brent?
Yeah, good. Good?
But, yeah, I'm pretty happy with the dish.
Hopefully, you know, it's enough to get me into round 2.
I really want that second immunity pin.
So I hope that the flavours are there
and that, you know, it all comes together
to some cracking tostadas.
CATH: I can smell that crab, Brentles. Yum!
Get it together, guys! Only one minute to go!
Come on! Come on!
RHIANNON: Come on!
CATH: Oh, that's awesome, Theo.
I'm really happy with this dish.
I have my tempura betel leaves. They look crispy. They look nice.
Got my kangaroo.
Swoosh of Greek yoghurt on the side for a bit of that acidity.
Lather my sauce on top.
And the fried anchovies.
I want it to be, like, you know, if you're on another table,
two tables over, you turn around and you hear that crunch
and you go, "Ooh, what are they having? I want that!"
(BELLOWS) 30 seconds!
(CATH AND RHIANNON CLAP)
Come on! 30 seconds! 30 seconds!
Come on! Go, Mal!
On the plates, come on!
Here it is!
10...
ALL: 9, 8,
7, 6,
5, 4, 3,
2, 1!
That's it! (CHEERING)
CATH: Well done, guys!
Good job, Brent. Bloody hell.
Whoo! Whoo-hoo! Good job!
Well done! Nice.
How'd you go? Yeah, really good.
Oh, my God, that looks amazing! Yeah, really good.
ANDY: In round 1 of immunity day,
you had to bring us a delicious dish with a sound effect to go.
If you do that, you'll be playing in the second round
for the last pin remaining of the season.
And the first dish we'd like to taste belongs to...
..Brent.
(EXPECTANT MUSIC)
BRENT: G'day.
Righto, Brent. What did you cook?
Chilli crab tostadas with a lychee orange salsa.
So a big part of it is the crunch on the tostadas?
Yep.
BRENT: You know, I need this dish to scream 'sound'.
I want some really crunchy tostadas.
They absolutely cannot be soggy.
I really wanna win and get myself into the immunity cook.
(TENSE MUSIC)
You ready? (CHUCKLES) Yeah.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
BRENT: Yep.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
You ready? (CHUCKLES) Yeah.
(CRUNCH!)
Oh, that's great.
(CRUNCH!)
(LAUGHS)
(CRUNCH!)
Keep the headphones in. Too loud. (CATH AND RHIANNON LAUGH)
(CRUNCH!)
Brent, big crunch, which is nice.
The tostadas, I was worried 'cause crab, obviously, juicy,
the chilli curry on there, could have dampened that a fair bit.
But it was nice and crunchy, nevertheless.
I liked the flavours that were going on,
although not as punchy and as big as Brent normally brings.
So, because I know how you cook
and because you normally bring the flavour,
I was kinda left a little disappointed
even though there were nice flavours.
Actually, I know one of the secrets to a good chilli crab
is actually Heinz ketchup in a lot of them.
'Cause it gives the body as well... Yeah.
..and that sweet and sour. Yep.
But I thought it was a really good effort,
so that's why there's a smile on my face.
Well done, Brent. Thanks, Brent.
(UPLIFTING PIANO MUSIC)
The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Malissa!
CATH: Go, Mal!
MALISSA: I'm up against the crack, the sizzle and the crunch,
and today I'm bringing the pop.
There you go.
OK, Malissa, what have you cooked?
I have made popping candy frozen mousse
with a tuile and some roasted figs.
MALISSA: Ooh!
Is it gonna snap?
Yep.
(SNAP!)
(LAUGHS) It snapped!
It's crunchy.
(CRUNCH!)
There you go!
(POPPING CANDY POPS)
(MALISSA LAUGHS) (SHANNON CHUCKLES)
There's no question, today was the day to pull a packet out of there...
Yes. ..and use the Pop Rocks.
I mean, they make us all laugh and smile and have fun.
It was a great find. You absolutely smashed the brief.
Um, and the technique was great too.
Beautiful, silky frozen mousse.
Um, the tuile. Beautiful caramelisation.
The figs were nice. Yeah.
Your challenge today... Yeah.
..was going to be balancing this dish.
Yeah.
'Cause the Pop Rocks are SO sweet! Yeah.
I just don't think it was super delicious 'cause it wasn't balanced.
MELISSA: Yeah, the Pop Rocks have
that artificial tutti-frutti candy kind of flavour.
I've still got little pops going on in my mouth.
It's good but I think that you could have done just a little bit more.
OK. Well done, though.
Thank you. Thanks, guys. Nice one, Malissa.
Next up it's Declan!
RHIANNON: Whoo! (APPLAUSE)
DECLAN: An immense amount of pressure right now.
The moment of truth.
I really want to hear a beautiful sizzle.
(PLATE SIZZLES) SHANNON: Whoo!
RHIANNON: Oh! CATH: Go, Declan.
Quickly get it over to the mic! CATH: Go, Declan!
(PLATE SIZZLES LOUDLY)
(SHANNON LAUGHS)
MALISSA: Go, Declan! (APPLAUSE)
MELISSA: Declan, what have you made us today?
Sizzling pepper steak.
ANDY: Declan, the concept was great. It worked really well.
But now, in the top 6,
you've got to take the concept of hitting the brief,
which is the sizzle plate,
and go, "How do I make the judges go,
"'Ohh, yeah, I see what he did there!'"
Thank you very much.
We want you to really elevate it
and show us the elegance that you can produce on a plate.
Yeah.
SHANNON: Declan, I like the idea of the theatre.
But it just didn't come together. Yep.
But you're gonna still be a better chef out of hearing this feedback.
Yep. You'll see it. Thank you. JOCK: Well done.
Next up, Theo!
MALISSA: Go, Theo!
THEO: I hope that the betel leaves have that absolute crunch
that is so loud,
like a glass-shattering crunch, you know.
I hope the judges love it.
Theo, what have you brought us, mate?
Crispy betel leaf kangaroo.
Yeah, go to the crunch booth.
You ready? Yeah.
(CRUNCH!) Ooh!
I'm happy with that.
ANDY: It's crispy. (LAUGHS)
Thanks, Gracie.
(CRUNCH!)
Theo, it was so good! Oh!
Like, that could be one of the tastiest things we've had all year!
RHIANNON AND CATH: Ohhh!
First of all, that tempura batter, it was crispy, crunchy,
with the kangaroo, the rub, and then the crispy anchovies on top.
Burnt spring onions in the salsa? Burnt spring onions, yeah.
Like, your brain is working at a totally different level now.
You come up with really creative, great concepts
and then you're executing them to an absolute tee.
You said today was gonna be your day.
You did your little flex. It was a massive flex, mate. Well done.
Thank you. Thanks very much.
Theo... (CLEARS THROAT) I can't even speak, it's so good.
You certainly brought the noise with this dish.
Uh, not in the least because it made a great sound,
but it was just such a cracking concept.
SHANNON: You can actually see the interior of the betel leaf.
Like that, you know, batter's really good.
So, you nailed it.
Theo, I've got a sound for you, mate.
CATH: Yeah!
(CHEERING)
That's the best sound I've heard all day.
One, crunchy.
And two, you cooked the kangaroo perfectly,
which makes me happy, happy, happy.
Well done. Thank you.
(CHEERING) CATH: Well done, buddy!
RHIANNON: You smashed it!
(BIRDSONG)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) (MALISSA CHUCKLES) Oh.
Oh, an announcement? (CHUCKLES)
So, the winner of round 1 who also will be playing for a pin in round 2,
but, more importantly, is the first member of our top 5...
..Theo!
(CHEERING) THEO: I've got it!
MALISSA: Well done!
CATH: Wow! MALISSA: So good!
THEO: So, right now,
my mind is on the chef that walks through those doors.
I want to redeem myself from last time and win this one.
And you'd better believe we are pulling out the big guns. (LAUGHS)
He is one of the country's masters of Japanese cuisine.
Trained by THE Nobu Matsuhisa himself,
he went on to run Nobu restaurants around the world.
Now, with three award-winning restaurants of his own,
he's making waves around Australia too.
Please welcome executive chef of Sokyo, Kiyomi, and Sempai Ramen,
it's Chase Kojima!
(WILD CHEERING)
THEO: Oh, my God! Chase Kojima.
It really is intimidating
that I'm gonna be cooking against a master of Japanese cuisine.
CONTESTANT: Whoo!
Normally, the chefs come in with their chef whites
and he's got a shirt undone.
(WHISTLES)
Hoo-hoo-hoo!
Whoo-hoo! Whoo!
He's super-chill.
How are you doing? Good to see you. Theo.
Nice to see you.
Chase, welcome to the MasterChef kitchen. How are you, mate?
Man, this is really, really exciting.
It's crazy.
Mate, we're very excited to have you in the MasterChef kitchen.
Three restaurants, mate. How are you juggling that?
You guys all know. It's really, really hard.
Yeah.
You have to love it.
Amazing.
And, you know, take it from me, Theo, this guy does not stand still.
Great.
I'm sure it's gonna be no different today.
(LAUGHTER)
Alright. Let's address the elephant in the room, shall we?
ANDY: Yeah, let's do it! MELISSA: Yeah.
There are two choices today.
One of you will be cooking with this huge pantry.
But only have access to a small selection of equipment
just behind Andy there.
The other will get this very modest pantry,
but will have all this equipment to play with.
So the question is, what do you value more -
ingredients or equipment?
THEO: There's a lot running through my mind.
You can do a lot with equipment,
but you can do so much more with ingredients,
and I love, you know, fresh produce.
Theo, you know how it rolls.
You've got the first choice and a head start.
You've got 75 minutes on your clock.
Chase, you'll have whatever Theo doesn't pick
and just 60 minutes to cook with.
We'll taste both of your dishes blind and score them out of 30.
Theo, if you score higher than Chase, you win that final immunity pin.
Just don't do too good. (LAUGHS) (MALISSA LAUGHS)
Chase, you won't know what you're cooking with
until you actually start.
So that means you're heading on out. We'll see you soon.
Soz. (LAUGHS)
(APPLAUSE)
Shannon, like always, we're leaving you to it, so good luck.
See you later. Thanks.
Come on, mate. (APPLAUSE)
Can you do it? Yeah.
You didn't do it the first time. Make sure you win this time.
OK, Theo, what's it gonna be?
Big pantry, little equipment?
Or small pantry, big equipment?
Look, I think...
I think I'm gonna go with the big pantry, small equipment.
I think there's a lot to work with there.
Makes sense. DECLAN: Yeah, Theo!
Yes, good choice. It's a good choice, Theo.
You do need to give yourself the best chance you can have.
So I'm being so strategic.
I'm hoping that this pantry
with quite a substantial amount of ingredients
is gonna give me an advantage.
Go with your instinct.
And then Chase doesn't have much to work with on the other side.
Good luck, Theo.
Your 75 minutes starts...
..now! (CHEERING)
CATH: Let's go, Theo!
BRENT: Go, Theo. DECLAN: Go on, mate.
Let's go, Theo!
I'm thinking I'm gonna do pork fillet.
Um, and then I'm gonna do a Mexican sauce,
like, with these dried chillis.
And then some sort of fresh, uh, salad to go along with that.
I'm going with the flavours of Mexico.
So, pork with a Mexican hot sauce and a salsa.
You know, I chose this big pantry
'cause there's so many good ingredients
and I want to use them all.
What do you want me to grab? I can help you out.
Um...spices. (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
I'm just gonna take this whole thing. Why not?
Well, it's all yours. Yeah. Then I'll come over...
Chase is certainly not getting any of that.
DECLAN: Go, Theo!
CATH: Good luck, Theo! Come on, buddy!
First thing that I need to do is start working on my sauce.
So I need my chillis in there, I need some tomato, onion, garlic.
All these spices.
And that needs to be cooking for a while
because Mexican cuisine is known for really bold flavours.
Nice, Theo!
Is there any ground cumin? There's cumin seeds, but there's no...
Just grind them up with a mortar and pestle.
I don't have a mortar and pestle. You don't have them?
Not having much equipment, yeah, it's difficult. It's, um...
You just got to really get a bit creative.
It's like everything is just taking a little bit longer.
Yeah, it's become apparent that the pantry
with a small amount of equipment is really starting to come into play.
RHIANNON: Nearly up to 60 minutes, mate.
Nearly up to 60 already?
DECLAN: Yeah. MALISSA: Yeah, close.
RHIANNON: You're about 3 off 60. Goes fast, eh?
I'm just going flat stick.
You know, redemption. I lost last time. I want to win this time!
(TENSE MUSIC)
(BARN DOOR OPENS) Yep!
Hi! Chase.
Can I go out now? Let's go. Come on, mate, follow me.
Yeah. (CONTESTANTS CHEER)
MALISSA: Alright. Come on, Theo.
RHIANNON: He's coming after you now. That's alright.
It smells pretty good already.
Does Chase look like he's... BRENT: Just keep cooking.
(CHUCKLES)
Chase, Theo chose this pantry.
The large pantry. (GANTRY CONTESTANTS LAUGH)
So this is your pantry.
But all this equipment.
And...your time starts now!
60 minutes. (GANTRY CONTESTANTS CHEER)
I'm not surprised Theo made this decision.
But I'm not worried about the equipment right now.
I just wanna see what I'm gonna cook and how.
What are you thinking?
You've got bonito, you've got some Moreton Bay bugs...
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'll take all this, for sure. Eggs.
Oh, kombu! Nice. Yeah.
It's almost like when you're in development mode.
If you're lucky, it's gonna be good.
If you're not lucky, it's not gonna be good.
Wow. That bonito is beautiful.
Talk to me. What are you gonna make?
I really want to showcase my seafood skills,
so definitely doing some bonito tataki-style.
And then the Moreton Bay bug, I'll probably do a tempura
and maybe a vinaigrette, I think.
You need anything, give me a shout. Thank you!
So, the dish that I'm going for is basically surf and surf.
Seafood and seafood.
So, the first thing, the bonito, I'm gonna just sear it.
And then the Moreton Bay bug, I have eggs and I have flour
so that I can definitely make tempura batter.
But I don't have all the ingredients to make as best as possible.
DECLAN: Nice, Chase. Check your flames as well.
Thank you. I'll give you a discount when you come to my restaurant.
(BOTH LAUGH)
THEO: Uh, Chase has started
and I just need to make sure my sauce has a lot of body in it,
which I'm trying to impart now.
And then I'll move on to my pork and do my salsa.
Now, take me through the pork as you're working, please.
Yep. I don't have a hibachi.
So I'm thinking searing on a pan. Yep. OK.
Chase. Yes, sir.
If there was one ingredient on that big pantry that you could have,
what would it be?
Oh, finger lime would be fantastic!
Yeah? Yeah? That would be amazing.
OK. I'll be back. Hang on. Yeah?
Chase, Theo.
Theo, you really want an hibachi grill.
Chase, you really want finger limes.
How about...I let you do a swap?
Oh! I love it!
Would you both agree? Sounds good to me.
Yeah? Yep
Chase?
RHIANNON: No deal! CATH: Oh! No deal! No deal!
MALISSA: No deal.
No deal?
Wow!
(CONTESTANTS LAUGH)
What do you think about that, Theo?
Yeah, now he's got a fight on his hands.
More motivation now, buddy! (LAUGHS) Come on, Theo!
That's fine, that's fine. (CONTESTANTS LAUGH)
OK, the gloves are off.
Gloves are off 100%.
NARRATOR: In the mood to cook?
on 10 play.
Theo, Chase, all bets - or should I say deals? - are off.
It's now a fight to the finish. There's 30 minutes to go.
(CONTESTANTS CHEER AND APPLAUD) MALISSA: Come on, Chase!
CATH: Come on! Come on, Theo!
Come on, mate.
So, yeah, we were gonna do a swap.
Uh, it would have been nice, but it didn't end up happening.
He's, um, sticking to this guns, so now he's got to watch out.
Old mate, Chase, shut me down.
So this means that I have to improvise.
There's no hibachi, so I have to cook this pork in a pan
and I need to be really careful here because it can dry out very easily.
And I'm developing flavour in my sauce.
I need to make sure that it's bold, it's got body.
So I'm tasting, I keep adding things,
like citrus in the form of orange.
I'm adding some more spices to it, you know.
I think I've added pretty much all the spices that I had.
So now I'm thinking about just refining it a bit.
BRENT: Just watch that, Theo.
Theo, he's got determination all over his face.
I think he is hungry for it.
But, you know, that sauce.
I don't know if the big pantry's gone to his head
and he's thought, you know, "I'll really use it all."
But, obviously, you know, with a lot more ingredients,
you really need to be careful of balancing it.
What was that all about? I was trying to negotiate.
I was worried about you. Oh! (LAUGHS)
Trying to negotiate. (LAUGHS)
And then you... That was it. Done. Yeah.
So, what...what... Are you worried about him?
Worried about him? Yeah.
Um...honestly, I think he has advantage.
See, I don't have much ingredients to produce flavour.
So, I think I need to let the flavour come out with the charcoal.
And I don't want to give Theo any advantage.
Yep. Well, you've really inspired him now. So, watch out, Chase.
Come on, Theo! He feels threatened.
CHASE: As much as I want the finger lime,
I couldn't lose my hibachi box.
It's my cooking tool.
But also because I have such limited ingredients,
it's my flavour element.
Ooh!
Ohhh!
The best part about this is once that fat drips onto the charcoal,
it instantly burns and then it will smoke itself.
So you really get that true flavour.
And also no finger limes.
So I'm making a passionfruit vinaigrette.
Is passionfruit my first choice?
Hmm. Maybe, maybe not.
But it's gonna cut that fattiness
and it's just gonna be nice, balanced.
Now I'm going to fry the tempura Moreton Bay bug.
Usually my tempura batter is a bit thinner.
But I'm gonna fry it at super-high heat
to try to crispy the outside and hope for the best.
SHANNON: It's all coming together now.
You've got less than 10 minutes to go!
(CONTESTANTS CHEER) You're in the home straight!
RHIANNON: Come on! Come on, Chase! Come on, Theo!
DECLAN: Let's go, Chase!
BRENT: Keep an eye on that pork. THEO: Yeah.
So I've got my pork. It seems to be going really well.
And as I'm building this salsa,
I taste it.
How's that, Theo? Mmm.
Tastes really good.
And there's a lot of ingredients in this sauce.
I'm gonna pass this now.
But I'm gonna strain it so it's nice and, you know, refined.
What are you looking for, Theo? Is that the biggest, uh...
Yeah. That's it. Really?
Yeah. RHIANNON AND CATH: Yeah.
Far out. RHIANNON: Biggest strainer.
(SIGHS) They don't make this easy, eh?
So, again, I'm running into a bit of a problem with this equipment.
God, this is gonna take forever.
Because now I've only got the smallest trainer.
It's like for a teabag or something.
RHIANNON: Get a spatula or spoon. Just sort of push it...
Yeah, it's not really...
I've got no time for this. Do you want that mashed?
Yeah, maybe.
Shout out to Shannon for the masher.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
Here's a masher. Thank you.
So, yeah, the pantry with a small amount of equipment
has made it really difficult today.
Four minutes. Four minutes to go! Come on!
Four minutes to go, Chase! Four minutes!
Push!
MALISSA: Yeah, come on, guys! Four minutes to go!
THEO: Yep. DECLAN: Nice, Theo.
CATH: Yeah, come on, Theo! Beautiful! Oh! Beautiful!
That is so nice.
Four minutes.
So, everything's cooked now.
My bonito, it looks really well.
RHIANNON: Nice, Chase.
The gamble was Moreton Bay bug tempura.
Just not having the perfect ingredient.
Worried about anything right now?
Oh, I want to... I want to finish. Ha!
The tempura isn't... as crispy as I wanted.
But I think it's OK.
Presentation is one of the most important things for me.
RHIANNON: Oh, wow!
I think my most important component is the bonitos.
Oh, wow! Look at that. Looks awesome, Chase!
Thank you. Whoo!
Then the tempura.
Just looking at the plate,
like where does it look lonely?
Where does it look like I can lean on you?
And then finishing it off with the basil, then the eggplant,
the red chilli, and then some watercress.
Here's some of the passionfruit on the side
and I think it's gonna be a winner.
Chase, Theo...
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
..one minute to go! One minute!
CATH: Come on! One minute! Come on, finish it off!
THEO: It's been really difficult today.
But the pork is cooked perfectly.
The sauce is...it's bold.
It is quite bold with all these ingredients.
Spot-on.
But I think that the salsa balances it out.
So, I'm really happy with what I've pulled off here.
Just makes me think, you know,
for future cooks when I have all the equipment and all the ingredients,
I think I'm unstoppable.
Come on, Theo! Come on, mate! Let's go!
OK. 10...
ALL: 9, 8, 7,
6, 5, 4,
3, 2, 1!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Yeah!
How did you go, mate? Good.
That was good? Good, good, good.
How does it look? Oh, maybe not as good as yours.
(THEO LAUGHS) We'll see.
Super interesting, today's cook.
Theo's up against an absolute weapon in Chase.
Look, if his dish in round 1 was anything to go by...
Oh! Perfect. ..he's on form today.
So he's in for a chance. Definitely.
Shall we get the first one in? Let's do it.
(TENSE MUSIC)
WAITER: Surf & Surf.
Bonito tataki with Moreton Bay bug tempura.
Thank you. Fantastic.
Surf & Surf! I love it!
Oh, there's passionfruit in there.
Very cool.
Look, the fact that it is a modern Japanese interpretation of seafood,
I'm going to say that this is the small pantry cooked by Chase.
Very willing to be surprised, but I don't think we will be.
Thank you.
Wow.
Um...OK. This is a very unique dish. Mmm.
The bonito, I love.
Like, you know, that classic technique.
It gets that scent of the smoke, um, but is just beautiful and tender.
I thought the passionfruit dressing really lifted it. It's zingy.
That sort of, you know, Japanese thing
where, you know, they add the fruit element in there.
And high acidity. Yeah.
I think it's brilliant. It really cuts through that raw fish.
And the smoky edge of the skin is delightful.
It's really, really beautiful. Mmm.
The thing I can't get around is... the bug.
For a tempura, I thought it was going to be really crispy, really sharp.
It's not. Like, it's...
It's the wrong flour, perhaps? Yeah.
The crunchy element of the bug wasn't crunchy,
so you don't have that textural contrast that you want.
Delicious, nonetheless, but not a perfect plate of food.
Ooh! Door might be open. Yeah.
(TENSE MUSIC)
WAITER: Mexican pork with pineapple salsa.
ANDY: Well, it smells pretty epic.
It smells amazing.
Thank you.
It's definitely an ugly-delicious kinda thing going on here.
The pork, it's nice and tender. Yeah.
He's got a nice sort of pink hue.
For me, the pineapple salsa was the standout.
You know, like, I feel like it really dragged into Mexico...
But...a lot of strong flavours in the sauce.
I feel as if there could be 20% less ingredients in there.
He's ended up with a hectic sauce.
It's hard to distinguish what it is.
I'm all for a maximalist moment.
Sometimes, you know,
dishes that have that perfect balance and harmony
of lots of different ingredients can just be magical.
But it is a bit confusing.
All in all, alright.
It's not a perfect dish.
Shall we score?
Today was all about making the most of what you had,
whether that was a little or a lot.
Both of you were faced with your own challenges,
but both of you managed to create something delicious.
We think we know already, but, Theo, which pantry did you choose
and which dish did you cook?
I had the abundance of ingredients and little equipment
and I cooked the pork.
As we suspected, Chase, that means you cooked the bonito dish.
Let's start with you.
Chase, it was always gonna be tough
making tempura with that small pantry,
but on the upside, the bonito was prepared perfectly.
So, I scored you
7 out of 10!
Chase, I scored you...
..a 7 out of 10.
I also scored you
7 out of 10.
Chase, that gives you a combined score of 21 out of 30.
And so, Theo, the pork itself, beautifully cooked,
but I was really distracted by the sauce.
I was confused by way too many ingredients.
I scored you...
..7 out of 10.
Theo, I scored you...
..7 out of 10.
Even stevens, theo.
I gave you a score...
..of 6 out of 10.
(APPLAUSE)
Which means, Theo, I'm sorry, Chase is our winner.
Congratulations, Chase! ANDY: Well done, Chase!
(APPLAUSE)
Chase, we love what you're doing
with Japanese cuisine here in Australia.
And I'm sure this is not the last
that we're gonna see you here in the MasterChef kitchen.
But from all of us here, welcome to the family, mate!
Chase Kojima, everybody! (CONTESTANTS CHEER)
Theo, you might not have gotten yourself a pin today,
but that doesn't take away from the fact
that you are safe from Sunday's elimination
and you are the first member of the top 5!
(ALL CHEER) Well done, mate.
Thank you.
Everyone else, four spots remaining.
If you want to join him in the top 5...
..you'd better be ready to lay it all on the line on Sunday.
See ya! Good luck.
(EPIC MUSIC) Thanks, mate.
Thanks, Chase.
NARRATOR: Sunday night on MasterChef Australia...
Kirsten Tibballs!
..the queen of desserts
brings a doozy of a double-round elimination.
(CATH SCREAMS)
I am frantic, but I am giving this everything I've got.
BRENT: I'm literally feeling like
a fish flapping around outside of water.
I'm just struggling.
(BLOWS RASPBERRY) (GASPS)
Ooh!
They'll have to push it to their limits...
MALISSA: I've survived so many eliminations,
but there is definitely fight in me.
..in this top 5 decider.
DECLAN: If I'm going home,
I wanna go home on a bang.
RHIANNON: Competitive Rhiannon
is coming out.
It's game on.
Captions by Red Bee Media