MasterChef Australia (2009–…): Season 14, Episode 47 - Episode #14.47 - full transcript

ANNOUNCER: Previously
on MasterChef Australia,

KEYMA: (CHUCKLES) How cute!
Oh, my God!

Dainty little thing.

..but huge expectations.

Hard enough trying to debone this
little thing. It's like microsurgery.

These ingredients make me look fat.

They all proved that good things
come in small packages.

JOCK: That was a bite of perfection.

ANDY: You have just
knocked that out of the park.

But Aldo, Mindy and Montana

were in the bottom three.



Tonight...

MONTANA: One in three
who could be going home today

is such high odds.

..it's a massive pressure test

that will leave them shell-shocked.

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

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in,
then you're out

# You're up, then you're down

# You're wrong
when it's right

# It's black and it's white

# We fight, we break up

# We kiss, we make up

# You're hot, then you're cold



# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in,
then you're out

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

ALDO: Consequences, they're high.

And I'm finding myself
in today's pressure test

against Mindy and Montana.

Whoo!

Mindy, she's got the knowledge.

She runs a restaurant.
She's an intuitive cook.

And myself and Mindy,
we haven't done a pressure test.

And Montana,
she has already done three.

It's like a machine
that's been already oiled.

So, I need to fight so hard
to stay in this competition today.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

ALDO: Ohhh...

Good morning, everyone.
CONTESTANTS: Good morning.

Now, you are wearing black aprons.
That means you know what day it is.

Just when you think it can't
get any hotter in this kitchen...

..we're dialling it up again.

(MINDY CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY)

This pressure test is set
by a chef at the top of his game.

He is at the cutting edge
of culinary trends,

has incredible pedigree
in terms of training.

And to top it all off,
he's just a really great guy.

(LAUGHTER)

Please welcome head chef and owner
of Sunda and Aru in Melbourne...

(GASPS)
Khanh Nguyen!

Wow!

(APPLAUSE)

ANDY: Yeah!

Hello.

Khanh Nguyen... (LAUGHS)

This guy is on fire at the moment.

Hello.

How are you, mate?
Good, thanks. How are you?

He's got two restaurants
in Melbourne.

His food is unbelievable

and he cooks Asian flavours
with native food.

Can you believe it?

Khanh, welcome back
to the MasterChef kitchen.

How does it feel?
Oh, it's good to be back.

Yeah?
Yeah, I've been waiting.

Been waiting.
What's been happening, mate?

What have you been up to?
I've been quite busy.

Aru is fairly new, so...

Yeah, I've been busy
on both restaurants

and, you know, first time
running two restaurants,

just running back and forth.

You know how it is.
Yeah.

Anyone eaten at Aru or Sunda?

Yep.

Almost...almost everybody.
A lot of fans in the room, mate.

I hope you enjoyed it.
(LAUGHTER)

It was really good.

They might have been,
but it doesn't mean they liked it.

I've never heard anyone say
that they didn't like either of them.

It's always like, "It was the best."

Thank you.

Last time you came in the kitchen,

you brought us one of
the most memorable recipes

I think we've ever seen -
the banh mi Wellington.

Very long pressure test,
very intense

and very hard to replicate.

How does this stack up?

It's just as hard.
I think it's just as hard.

Yes.
I reckon it's harder.

(LAUGHTER)
MEL: Yeah.
Way harder!

Why don't you put them
out of their misery, mate?

Alright.

Today, you'll be cooking my...

..seafood plate.

(GASPS)

Come on in, guys.
Come and have a look.

ALDO: Oh...

I don't know if I should laugh.
Should I cry? Should I run?

Seafood plate - I can see
there are five seafood elements

and that's freaking me out right now.

Khanh, why don't you
talk us through this?

What am I looking at? Let's go
from here. Let's go from here.

We'll start from the oyster.

So, freshly shucked oyster served
with a coconut curry vinaigrette

and then, moving clockwise,

we've got a rice crisp and we've got
freshly picked spanner crab

that's folded with sunrise lime,
desert lime and finger lime.

We've got coconut mayonnaise
and Vietnamese nuoc cham.

Moving on, you've got
the Shark Bay scallops,

and then you've got a native
green curry with nori garnish

and lemon myrtle oil.

And then you've got scampi here.

And then, finally
you've got the 'Storm Bay' clams

served with paperbark oil
and a dark palm-sugar glaze.

What you're about to taste

contains 99 ingredients.

ALDO: Oh, my God.

143 steps.

13 pages.

Oh, my God!

It's a big one.

Dive in. Let's go.

Oh, my God.

Loaded with flavour.
Yeah.

I'm pretty comfortable with the sort
of flavour elements of this cook.

I've made a curry before.
I've made an oil before.

Native ingredients
is something I'm familiar with,

but the cook on the seafood,

it's not something that I do a lot,

and that is definitely the bit
that I'm scared of with this one.

Just the first one.

It gets better.
Does it?

I hope so.
I believe it.

Oh, the flavour is insane.

You wouldn't think that seafood

could have
so many layers of flavours.

What Khanh is adding on
to each of these components

is elevating not just the seafood,

but it's adding dimensions
of flavours.

You're getting sweetness, smokiness,
you're getting herbaceousness,

you're getting sweet-sour pops
from finger limes and desert limes.

Like, there is so much flavour
going on in this plate.

Every single dish tastes different.

And I'm just trying to keep
everything, like, in my mind

so I can make sure
I execute it perfectly.

Khanh, talk me through some of
the major pressure points here.

Every single piece of seafood is
cooked differently, in its own way,

and it's all different.

Cold oysters, the crab needs to be
at a certain temperature

so you can actually
pick it off the shells.

The scallop just lightly seared

the scampi are cooked medium-rare,

one end to the other.

And then not too far
on the cooking on the clams,

otherwise it's too chewy.

This is not
just five pieces of seafood.

This is five separate dishes
on one plate.

The cook on the seafood, there's all
these different types of seafood.

You have to get the cook on them
perfect.

There's a lot of work ahead of us
today.

Righto, guys.

You have four and a half hours

to replicate Khanh's seafood plate.

Far out.

Of course, this is a pressure test.

So, the dish that least resembles
Khanh's in both look and taste

will send its maker home today.

Khanh, I think it's only fitting
that you send these guys off.

Let's do it, mate.

Alright. So, good luck.

If you need help,
just read the recipe.

(LAUGHTER)

OK.

Alright. Your time starts now.

(ONLOOKERS SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

Go! Go!

Let's go. Let's go.

Four and a half hours to re-create
Khanh's seafood plate,

it is ginormous.

There are 99 ingredients,
13-page recipe with 143 steps.

JULIE: Oh, my God.
Look at that recipe.

It's like a bloody fiction novel.

I don't cook with 99 ingredients.

My usual style of cooking

is to have just no more
than 10 ingredients happening.

So, my strategy today, I want to make
sure that everything is done right.

Everything is measured to the tee.

I need to follow the recipe.
I've got to take my time.

MINDY: Scatter the rice over the
tray evenly and pour on the water.

First thing the recipe says
is to puff rice.

I need to get this on straightaway

because puffed rice
is going to take a lot of time

and this needs
four hours to dehydrate

before it can be deep-fried.

Oh, this pressure test.

I tell you what, if I could pick
one, this would absolutely be it.

I'm feeling really confident
cooking with these ingredients.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

I'm in heaven.

DANIEL: Good on you, Mon.

JULIE: That's the way, Mon.
You're going great.

Bloody powering ahead, hey?
Mm.

MONTANA: I want to work
as quickly as I possibly can today.

I basically saved my own butt
in the honey pressure test

by absolutely motoring
in the start of the cook.

I want to take that
into this pressure test

and just move as quickly
as I possibly can.

Any sort of speed bumps
or things that I don't do right,

I want to have enough time
at the end of the cook

to fix those mistakes.

So far, I've got my rice
in the combi oven,

I've got my lemon myrtle oil done
and my enoki mushrooms done.

When I tasted Khanh's scallop,
the first thing that jumped out at me

was that lemon myrtle oil.

It was so fragrant

and you could smell it
before you even tasted the dish.

And that native green curry
tasted so complex.

Working on my green curry
at the moment.

Oh, God, it's just ridiculous
amounts of ingredients.

It's just so hard to keep track of.

DANIEL: Yeah, Mindy.

SARAH: Aldo, I love you.
You've got to motor.

Hey, Julie,
there's not 'mush' room in that pan.

(CHUCKLES)
Well done.

Cumin, coriander.

I've just finished
steaming my enokis

and I need to move on
to the native green curry

that sits
right on top of the scallop.

Five grams of light palm sugar.

I need to make sure that mine is
almost exactly the same as Khanh's,

if not exactly the same.

So, I need to follow his recipe
to a tee.

And it is this big.

How did I know
that you two would come along?

Come on!
How's it going?

How are you?
Yeah, great.

I feel...
I feel pretty excited about today.

We're meant to be freaked out
and terrified,

which I am kind of underneath
at the same time.

But if there was a pressure test
for me,

far out,
I reckon this one had my name on it.

And I really want to do justice
to this dish

because I feel like
this is a masterclass for me

that's hopefully going
to take my food to the next level.

Don't take your time too much,
though.

No, no, I'm not taking my time.
There is no time.

Trust me. I'm not taking time.

I'm, like, motoring along.

But I've got everything happening
kind of at once

and we've got to just keep moving.

The vibes are high.
I'm loving it, Mindy.

Yeah, thanks.
Keep it up.

Good luck.
Good luck.
See you, guys.

This curry is beyond belief.

I've never tasted a curry like it.

Yum. That smells delicious.

It's very aromatic. It's floral.
All those amazing, aromatic flavours.

Curry smells good.

The huge advantage for me is actually
knowing all these ingredients.

These are things that I love
to cook with.

Galangal, lemongrass.

I would hate to be
in anyone else's position

when you don't know
what these ingredients are.

ALDO: Mindy,
which is the river mint?

It's dried, mate. It's dried, Aldo.

Dry?

You've got 99 ingredients and you've
got to plate every single one.

Three and a half hours to go!

(CHEERING)
DANIEL: Let's go, guys. Let's go!

Yes, that one's done. Yes.

Next on the list says the element
to make is the native green curry.

DANIEL: Let's go, Aldo.
Move quickly, mate.

I don't make curry

because there are so many things
that go into the curry.

I'm getting very confused
with all those spices now.

Reading the recipe,

there is 25 ingredients
that are going to be in the curry.

I'm not going to be able to do that.

I actually I don't know them.

I'm just freaking out.

Far out.

OK. Get your head around.

For me, too, reading the recipe,
matching what I'm doing as well,

it's very time-consuming.

Oh, jeez.
I'm running so behind, am I?

Yeah. You've got to hustle, mate.
Move faster.

I need to find a loophole
to get out of this situation.

Otherwise, I'm seriously,
I'm going to be the one to go.

Stay calm.

ALVIN: Come on, Aldo. Come on!

Just looking at the contestants
at the early stages of the cook,

Montana looks to be multi-tasking.

SARAH: You're doing really well,
Montana.

(WHISTLES) Montana.

So is Mindy.

(SINGS) # Coconut mayo. #

You can't just work on one thing.

This is like multi-tasking
to the next level, this dish.

JULIE: You should be offering
to go down there, Dan.

The only person that's actually
single-focused is Aldo.

I'm losing my focus now.

River mint.

If you're not sure on a spice, mate,
just yell out, eh?

Lemon myrtle powder.
I should have it here.

Mountain pepperleaf.

At the moment, I'm still working on
this native green curry.

Come on, Aldo, let's do this.

I'm very behind, Mindy.
I'm very behind.

With everything to the tee,

I've been so meticulously
wasting so much time

onto the milligrams
of what was going into the pot,

so I hope that I nailed this.

I think the hardest part for me
was this curry, to take it on.

But now that it's on,
I'm feeling clear enough now.

There's a green curry and it's
slightly hotter compared to Khanh's.

But, you know, it's still enjoyable.
It's still a good kick.

I think that there's too much chilli
for a white boy like me.

But, you know,
I done what the recipe says.

I don't need to adjust it

because I think that the seasoning
at some point...

Beautiful caramelisation of all
the spices that I put it through.

And I'm happy with that.

(COUGHS)

The native green curry is done.
Another huge tick out of my list.

It just gives me
a layer of confidence.

Game on.

I can see
that I've done quite a few elements,

so that's quite reassuring for me.

Beautiful.

Now it's time that I start to
multi-task, to catch up.

So, I've got to do
the paperbark oil.

Just work fast, mate.
You'll catch up, yeah?

JULIE: Just keep focus. Keep going.

Where's the ginger flower?

It's in the fridge, Mindy,
the ginger flower.

Love it, guys. Good teamwork.
Beautiful teamwork.

Mindy, it's actually in the garden.

(LAUGHTER)

Sabotage!
Game on, Mon. Game on.

I've got a few elements on the go.

I've got my curry just sort of
straining away over there.

I'm working on
my chilli nuoc cham sauce

and coconut mayo for the crab,

and my glaze is about to get started
in this pan for the clam.

I'm working so quickly,

but it's what I need to do
in this cook

to finish it as quickly as possible

and leave myself enough time
at the end of the cook

in case something goes wrong.

That's a lot.

I just want to do this dish justice

because I think,
just in the past few cooks,

I've really started finding my feet
and my confidence

and I know where I want to take
my food after MasterChef.

The stuff I do on Tik Tok,

it isn't necessarily
my style of cooking.

I love that style of food and I love
that I can share that with people.

But it's not
what I am obsessed with food about.

I love fine dining,
refined food, really creative.

And when I look at Khanh's dish,

that's definitely where I sort of see
myself heading after this journey.

So, I really want to take this dish

and show the judges how much
I have grown in this competition.

Bring on the funk.
You want the funk? We got the funk.

I feel like I'm going OK.
My energy is up.

I'm having a lot of fun. I'm having
a bit of a dance out there.

And I'm just going through
my little checklist.

(CHEERING)
DANIEL: Yes, Mindy.

Yum. Damn!

The next step is coconut dressing.

And this goes on those gorgeous
little freshly shucked oysters.

There is so much coconut
going on there,

like, there's coconut milk,
there's coconut cream,
there's coconut water.

Then I've got, like,
balsamic glaze in there.

I've got fish sauce, I've got sugar.

There's so much going into
this tiny little dressing.

It smells good.

Blitzed it. It's looking good.

So, now I have to work on
my curry oil for the oyster.

Listen up.
You've got two hours to go.

Come on, guys! Go! Keep working.

DANIEL: Keep working, guys.
SARAH: Keep powering, Mindy.

KEYMA: Good job, Aldo.

MONTANA: Two hours left in the cook,
and I've finished my oyster dressing.

It's time to tackle
the cooking of that seafood.

It's time to get
that spanner crab on the go.

I'm just going to sort of
laser focus on this

and put all my concentration

into the cooking of the seafood,
while I can.

ALVIN: The seafoods are out.
BILLIE: Yeah.

OK.

OK. Like, I'm starting
to actually get some movement now.

I've got to start getting
on to my seafood.

And the cook on this is so important

and the first seafood that I need to
get cracking on is the spanner crab.

Look at this baby.

Timing's everything
when it comes to proteins.

There's, like, a rule of thumb

that can be one minute
for every 100 grams,

and then plus the two minutes.

Or this recipe says
1.5 minutes per 100 grams. Right?

So, you've just got to get it right.

So, I'm going with the recipe.
(TIMER BEEPS)

1.5 minutes
for every 100 grams of crab.

What's this baby weigh?
550 times 1.5.

Eight and a half minutes.
Let's do it.

I normally cook with instinct
with a lot of these things,

but today,
I don't want to put that at risk.

I want to make sure
that if I follow this recipe,

Khanh says, it's right

then I'm going to get this cook
on the crab perfect.

Alright. Timer's on.

I got this. I got this. I got this.
I got the crab.

I'm so far behind.

But I need to get onto the seafood
straightaway.

To cook the seafood,
I'm going to discard the recipe.

I'm going to trust my instinct
on cooking the seafood.

I know there are temperatures.

I know that there are minutes
of cooking as well.

But I can try to gain as much time
as I can because I'm super quick.

I know how to treat the seafood.

I know how to cook crab, so
I'm going to go by feeling and look.

I've got my crab going

and now it's time
that I start to multi-task

and catch up on the time
that I have lost so far.

I'm going to fight
for my spot in this competition.

BILLIE: Nice, Mon.
KEYMA: Looks beautiful, Mon.

Where do you put the thermometer in?

Thickest part of the underbelly.
What?

Thickest part.
Just find the thickest part.

How do you get in?
Where your tongs are, probably.

Yeah. Hang on.
(TIMER BEEPS)

Pretty daunted, cooking this seafood.

This is what I've been scared of
throughout this whole cook

and is definitely the thing
that I'm most unfamiliar with.

Wait, yeah, yeah.

Just go straight into the...
OK.

The internal temperature
of that crab

needs to reach 60 degrees
and no more,

otherwise, it's not going
to be able to be picked.

It's going to be either raw
or overcooked.

And this is one of the key elements
to this seafood plate.

How's the cook, Mon?

It's only at 50...1.

The nerves are pretty high.

I mean, being one in three
who could be going home today

is such high odds.

And this pressure test
was basically made for Mindy.

MINDY: 60 degrees, baby.

And Aldo can cook seafood
like nobody else can.

I'm just completely out of my depth
on this one.

JULIE: Just breathe, Mon.

SARAH: Let's go, guys!

ALL: Whoo!

Go, Mon. Keep going!

This recipe says to bring the crab
up to 60 degrees after resting,

and it's only at 51.

So, I think I'm going to do
another one.

(SIGHS)

From tasting Khanh's dish,
that spanner crab element

was one of the main things
that jumped out at me

and one thing
I really want to get perfect.

I've got a spare one,
so I'm gonna re-cook it.

(SIGHS)

This is the exact reason

why I've been motoring
from the start of this cook.

I knew this cooking
of the seafood elements

was going to be a struggle for me,

and I wanted to give myself
enough time

to have that back-up if I needed to,

'cause it's a part of the cook that
I can't rely on my instincts for.

I really need to read every line
of that recipe

and follow it to a tee.

ANDY: I think this is
the most important part of the cook.

Yeah.

MEL: We can't forget,
this is a fruits de mer.

It's all about celebrating
the seafood,

and whatever else you do to it

really needs to heighten
and elevate everything.

This is gonna be make-or-break
for these guys.

I mean, look around.

Front bench, Mindy -
cool, calm, collected, under control.

Not sort of having to
read the recipe five times

and then try and execute it.

It's muscle memory.

BILLIE: That's it, Mindy.

What about Aldo?

I mean, he seemed
a little behind before, no?

He fell behind quite a long way.

And then it got to the crab,

and he's like,
"I'm not gonna follow the recipe.
I know how to cook spanner crab."

That's when instinct
started to kick in for him.

Yeah. And confidence.
And, actually, he's now caught up.

ANDY: And it seems like
Montana's cook

is the reverse of Aldo's cook

because she was flying -
she was probably the most far ahead.

Then she got to the seafood.

The seafood cooking
has made her lead...

She's probably actually behind.
Yeah.

So, there's this amazing balance
in a pressure test

of using your instincts
and following the recipe,

and you have to get those two things
spot-on to succeed.

JOCK: This is what a pressure test
is all about.

Yes, it's about following the recipe.
Yes, it's about instinct.

But doing it under pressure?
Whole different story.

Come on, Mindy!
The world is your oyster.

Give me the pearls!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

MEL: One hour to go!

DANIEL: Let's go, guys! Come on!
Let's go!

Let's go! Let's go!

Crab's there.
Crab's resting, yep.

That came to the right temperature.
60 degrees.
Yep.

So, um, I mean,
I'm just trying to get

all these little bits
and pieces done.

Awesome.
On to...on to the clams next.

Let's go.

There is so much going on. I've
managed to cook my spanner crab.

I've done my scallops.

I now need to move on to
my storm clams.

Have you seen the size?
These are monster clams.

They're absolutely huge.
I need to weigh them out.

I need to put 25ml of water
in there,

and then I need to get them
into a hot pan.

Cooking protein takes so much skill
and experience to actually master.

Like, you have to do it time and
time again to develop instincts.

The cook on this clam
was actually just done.

I was actually surprised
at how underdone Khanh likes it,

and that's the way that I love it.

Some people like to cook it
a little bit out,

so it's got more done-ness,

but this one is just cooked.

So, you really need your skills
and your instincts for this one.

So, when you cook the clams, you
have to get them out of the shell,

you have to put them
in the container.

You have to
reserve the cooking liquid,

put it in the fridge, and away.

JULIE: Good stuff, Mindy.

Let's go, mate. Yeah. Pick it up.
Let's go.

The scampi is the next thing
I have to check off my list.

It is a feature piece on its own.

Like, this could be
the centrepiece of a dish.

It is absolutely amazing.

Khanh cooks it exactly the same

as what he recommends
for his spanner crab.

A minute and a half per 100 grams.

DANIEL: Let's go, Mindy.
Don't be skimpy with that scampi.

(CHEERING)

That's it.

I'm so happy that I caught up so much
time during the cook of the seafood

by trusting my instincts.

Now let's open the oysters up.

I've got all my seafood cooked.

The next thing that I need to
move on to are the oysters.

I know that
I just need to shuck them,

but I need to make sure
that there is no shells in.

And that should be
very gentle shucking as well.

I've shucked so many oysters
in my life,

so I think that I can
easily manage these.

Sorry to say, guys, but you only
have 30 minutes left.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OK, we're good. We're good.

I have lost quite a bit of time

sort of playing around
with the spanner crab

and I really need to motor
to finish the rest of this seafood.

I'm basically working on
every single seafood element

at the same time.

I've done my cooking on the scallops
and the scampi

and I've prepped my oysters.

So, I just have to cook
my storm clams.

DANIEL: Good work, Mon.

I've never cooked, let alone seen,
a storm clam in my life,

so I have nothing to fall back on
instinctually.

I've only got the recipe to follow

and I'm relying solely on that

to hopefully make sure
I'm cooking these perfectly.

The recipe says

to throw the clams in the pot
with a little bit of water

and steam them,
with the lid on, for a minute.

It's been a minute and I take
them out, pop the shell open,

and they're a lot softer
than what I remember.

So, I'm just hoping
what I followed in the recipe

was the right way to go.

Go, Montana! Go, Aldo! Go, Mindy!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

MINDY: OK, crab.

I need to start picking my crab

because this is going to
take some time.

I've actually got to keep
the crab shell,

so I've got to really
lever it off properly,

pull it apart,
get all those legs off,

and start picking out
that gorgeous white meat.

I've got to make sure that
there's no shell in this crab.

I am having flashbacks
of yesterday's cook,

with that bloody little quail bone
ending up in my dumpling.

And it's kind of shaking me.

I'm not used to having
my confidence kind of shaken.

These little mistakes have
huge consequences in the kitchen.

If I end up with crab shell in
this dish - guaranteed, game over.

Almost there, guys.
15 minutes to go! Come on!

(APPLAUSE)

Whoo!

It's gonna puff.

JULIE: That looks beautiful, Aldo.

MONTANA: I'm in a pretty good spot
at the moment.

My seafood's cooked.
All my sauces are done.

It's just a matter of finishing off
this crab salad,

doing the puffed rice,

and then just bringing
everything together for plating.

I am picking this crab meat
so carefully.

The thing that got me
into this pressure test

was a bone in Andy's quail.

And if I go home
on a shell in the crab,

it will be quite ironic,

and something I'm going to do
everything in my power to avoid.

Crab done. Thank God.

The crab is picked.

The next thing I'm going to get
started on are those rice crisps.

I need to get those rice crisps fried
and finish this plate-up.

That's alright, Mon, yeah?
Yeah, it's good.

Sweet.

MINDY: Curry oil, pickled shallots.

I've actually prepped
all of my sauces,

all of my little bits and pieces.

Now I need to plate it.

Come on, Mindy. Let's do this.

Khanh's dish was absolutely perfect

and I want to get the look
and the presentation just the same.

I need to start with my crab salad.

It's still all about
these tiny little measurements.

Two grams of chives,
two grams of coriander,

seven dots of the coconut mayo,

seven dots of the nuoc cham.

I don't want to miss one ingredient.
I don't want to miss a garnish.

I don't want to miss a sauce.
I don't want to miss
a piece of seafood.

BILLIE: Nice work, Mindy.

So, I am following it to a tee

and I'm counting each, one by one.

Five different seafood elements!

And you've only got five minutes
to get 'em on the plate!

(ONLOOKERS SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

DANIEL: Hurry up!

(MUTTERS) This little guy...

Come on. Quarter of a teaspoon.

I'm getting started
on plating these oysters.

This oyster element is so simple.

It's oyster, dressing,
curry oil and shallots.

But everything on that plate

and the quantities of it
are so deliberate,

and I want to get that perfect.

DANIEL: Keep going, Mon.
Almost there.

One minute to go!
One minute!

ALDO: Five, six, seven,
eight, nine, ten...

Time is very ticking,

and I've got the storm clam,

the scampi dust,

spanner crab salad,

and the oysters.

Scallops.

My next element to move on
is the scallop.

I just need to pick 12
of the enoki mushroom,

just arrange underneath the scallop,
tuck under the scallop.

A beautiful dollop of
my green curry.

Beautiful.

Two teaspoons of
the beautiful lemon myrtle oil.

And then five pieces
of the seaweed crackers on top.

What am I missing?
I'm missing something on there.

Nothing.

(BOTH LAUGH)

I can't believe that I managed to
present to the judges

all five components
on the seafood platter.

It's something that...

I've never been able to re-create
something like this before.

And that's how far
this competition has pushed me.

So, I'm proud of
what I've achieved today.

Let's go, gantry!

Ten...

ALL: ..nine, eight,
seven, six, five,

four, three, two, one...

That's it!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BILLIE: Well done, you guys.

DANIEL: Well done,
everyone.

(APPLAUSE CONTINUES)

(WHISTLING)

MONTANA: I am completely drained.

It was... Yeah.

I mean, having to focus for so long
on so many ingredients,

and so many repetitive ingredients,

was really, really tough.

Definitely unsure about the seafood.

There's a few there
that I've never cooked before.

So, I mean, crossing everything
that I've done enough.

Good luck. Walk slowly, please.

MONTANA: Good luck, Mindy.

I am handling this

like it's a precious piece of cargo,

like it is
the most precious thing

that I've ever had in my two hands,

because it is so delicate,
it is so refined,

and I need to make sure
that it gets in front of the judges

the way that I actually
plated it up.

It's like cradling a baby.

You are so careful.

ANDY: Four and a half hours later,
I would be too.

Precious cargo.

Sorry, I'm not trying
to make you laugh.

MINDY: For real. Oh!

Looking at it and holding it
in my hands, I'm thinking,

"My God, this could be the dish

"that makes me or breaks me
in this competition."

How does that feel? It's finally
here. It's finally done.

(SIGHS)

I am absolutely spent.

How did you find
the cooking of the seafood,

the balances of flavour,
the textures going on here?

Everything nailed?

Oh, look, I'm sure
it's far from nailed.

I think it would take years
to get to that point on this dish.

There are so many elements,

there's so much technique in there.

But I followed the recipe to a tee.

Well, you've put everything
on the plate.

You are spent. You are done.

So, there's not much left to do,
other than to taste.

So, we'll do that.

Thanks, Mindy.
Thanks, Khanh.

Honestly, such a pleasure.

Scallop looks, uh, beautiful.

KHANH: There you go.

Thank you, Chef.

As is the case with your dish, Khanh,
there's a lot to unpack.

Beautifully cooked crab,

and all the flavours on there
were fantastic.

I think the, uh...
the pick of the plate, for me,

was definitely the scampi.

The scampi itself
was perfectly cooked.

It's as close as it gets,
with the scampi.

I was gonna say, that was
equally as good as your one.

Yeah. 100%.

The seafood cooking
was really, really very good.

And that allowed us to enjoy
all of these beautiful flavours

and Mindy's very faithful attempt
to get somewhere close to

this very delicious plate of food
that you've brought us.

Go get 'em, babe.
Thank you, guys.

Good luck, mate.

I can't believe that I managed
to get everything done.

But I know that I was so far behind

because cooking the curry
was a real struggle.

Aldo.

For sure, I know that my green
curry, it's a little bit spicier,

and I'm also concerned about
the seafood.

I just hope that
cooking the seafood by instinct

doesn't cost me my spot
in this competition.

ANNOUNCER: Enjoy another taste of
MasterChef with full masterclasses,

best bits and delicious exclusives
at:

Aldo, deep exhale.

Oh.

(CHUCKLES) It's finished.

Yeah, I know. I know it's finished.

And, I'm...stoked, actually,
that I pushed through

to get to the finish line, actually.

Did you enjoy it, though?

I did. I had fun.

I know that I was running behind
but it wasn't that the...

..things for me, it was just to try
to get all the measurement right.

I didn't want to give anything away.

So, if it wasn't pushing me behind
to re-create your dish

in the best way possible for myself,

I needed to do what was
feeling right for me.

Alright, Aldo, all that's left to do
is for us to taste it, mate.

Hope that you can enjoy, guys.
Thank you so much.

Thanks, Aldo.

Pleased to meet you. Pleasure.

Look, I think we'll start with
the cooking of all the seafood

because there are problems.

For me, the crab
is really inconsistent.

There's some nicely cooked bits in
there but most of it is underdone.

Then we'll go on to the scallop.

Mine was really nice.

Beautifully cooked,
nice caramelisation.

I think he definitely
tended to those scallops

the way that they should,
and they were great.

Scallops - that was really good
for me.

Yep.

I mean, the green curry
was a bit spicy but...

..I don't mind a bit of spice.
(CHUCKLES)

So, I quite actually enjoyed it.
I might make my one a bit spicier.

(ALL LAUGH)
Back at the restaurant.

There's some components
in here that...

..you know,
that are really well done.

Like, the lemon myrtle oil is killer.

The glaze of the clams was beautiful,

the caramelisation of the scallop
was beautiful.

The paperback oil, again, beautiful.

But I've gotta say,
the main nuts and bolts of it

is the cooking of the shellfish.

Look, I think, overall,

the thing we can't forget is it's
all about celebrating the seafood.

Yes, in some cases, on Aldo's plate
and then, no, in some other places,

which is a little bit of a problem.

Aldo did roll the dice
and go on his gut.

Unfortunately,
it hasn't worked out for him.

Really gutted for him because it
does leave him super vulnerable.

MINDY AND ALDO: Good luck, Mon.
Good luck.

Walk slowly, huh?
Yep.

I'm very nervous,
walking my dish up to the judges.

I tasted everything, I...
was happy with the flavour

but I'm definitely worried
about the cook on the seafood.

JOCK: Montana.
Oh, God.
ANDY: Steady.

(INHALES)

Even though I followed the recipe,

I don't know if it's right.

I don't know if it's under or over

or some other form of error
that I could possibly do to it.

ANDY: What about that?

That was tough. Very tough. Yep.

Are you proud of yourself?

Yeah, I'm pretty chuffed.

To do something
completely out of my depths

and to get everything on the plate

is...pretty cool.

Yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself.

Speaking of things like that,
is this what you came back for?

To put yourself into this position,

where you are pushed
right out of your comfort zone?

We're away from TikTok desserts or,
you know, four-ingredient dishes?

This is what I want to do.

Like, I love this sort of modern
interpretation of classic flavours,

but done in, like, a really
fine-dining, interesting way

and the TikTok thing
sort of came as a...

..a fallback from not
getting into MasterChef.

I want...the whole experience.

I want to learn
from stuff like this.

And, I mean, if this keeps me safe,
I'm so glad I've done this today.

Great. Alright, nothing left to do
but taste it.

Yeah.
Thanks, Montana.

Thanks, Montana.
Thank you, guys.

KHANH: It all looks pretty good.

(CLEARS THROAT)

Overall, I think all the flavours
are very close.

Which...

..is, yeah, quite a great thing
to achieve.

Beautiful lemon myrtle oil.
The scampi had great flavours.

I think that, in general,
it was pretty well done.

My piece of scampi
was beautifully cooked.

How good was the rice?

The rice cracker was perfect.

And seasoned really nicely as well.

But the oyster...

I cannot believe it, considering
what happened yesterday...

..that I have... Like, it's not just
grit, it's like...

Shell.
..full oyster shell... (CHUCKLES)

..in the bottom of my oyster.

Wow.

Yeah, look, I'm a bit disappointed
to see shell grit in your oyster.

Given why she's here, I really...

And how much care
she took to pick that crab

and make sure that it had
absolutely no shell

and no problem with the crab at all,
it was gorgeous.

Um, just a real shame about that
tiny bit of attention to detail.

The clams and the scallops -

undercooked.

She's never cooked this
seafood before,

so that's why she probably
struggled.

Mm.

The nuoc cham gel is out of balance.

Coconut mayo was nice but then
when you mix it all together, it's...

It doesn't have that same balance
as yours.

It's problematic
and it leaves her vulnerable.

I certainly think Mindy can be
taken off the table.

But, you know, we're gonna have to go
through both Aldo and Montana's dish

element by element

to work out which of the two dishes
had better elements

because both of them
had some serious flaws.

(SIGHS)

99 ingredients,
143 steps and 13 pages.

It was THE most difficult
and demanding pressure test

this season so far.

Are you impressed with what you
saw from these three today?

Yeah, definitely.

I mean, it was just one plate
of food, right? But...

(LAUGHTER)

..everyone had everything on the
plate and that was very impressive.

Well, even though
that was a marathon,

I'm sure these three would agree,
I think,

that we all loved having you here.
(CHUCKLES)

Can we put it together for Khanh,
please?

(APPLAUSE)

Let's look at the three of you,
one by one.

Mindy...

..there was a lot we liked
about your seafood plate.

The scampi of the day.

Perfectly cooked clam

and the crab salad was well balanced
and delicious.

And that's why...

..you are safe.
(EXHALES)

Aldo.

Your scallops were excellent.

The green curry packed
a tonne of extra heat

which Khanh himself
actually enjoyed.

But our enjoyment was stifled
by undercooked seafood.

Your crab was only part cooked

and your clam was undercooked.

Montana.

Your plate was a bit
of a rollercoaster.

In the positive column -

a cracking rice cracker

and a great lemon myrtle oil.

But in the negative column...

..your clam was undercooked.

As was your scallop.

And Andy's oyster...

..had not one but two huge pieces
of shell in it.

Montana...

..I'm so sorry

but you're going home.

ALDO: Oh, no.

(EXHALES)

(CRIES)

MINDY: Here you go.

Oh.

(WHISPERS)

Montana...

..you came into this kitchen

representing a new generation
of cooks.

You first applied
when you were 19 years old.

You're now only just 23.

We've loved watching you thrive
alongside the chefs

that you've been aiming and aspiring
to be like your entire life.

You are becoming that chef, Montana.

You're well on your way.

This is the first day
of your journey.

What are you gonna take away
from the MasterChef experience?

To have the opportunity to cook
with people like this,

who I'm gonna have friends with
for the rest of my life and...

..have the experience with you guys
and meet you

and have feedback from you

and become stronger
and a more confident cook is...

..everything that I wanted
from this.

We can't wait to see where it goes.

But for now,
it's time to say goodbye.

(SIGHS)

MasterChef has been everything
that I wanted it to be.

It's been a dream of mine
for so long

and to do it with people who
I idolise is absolutely insane.

The cook that I was in the start
of this competition

is a completely different person
from who I am now.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Give it up for Montana, everybody!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

I think as soon as
I walk out of this kitchen,

I want to go and do work experience
in some kitchens

and even though I feel like
I've grown in this competition,

there's still so much more to learn
and...

..whenever that is,
I'm so excited to get into it.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night
on MasterChef Australia...

No.

..they're in for a big surprise...

ALVIN: It's
quite surreal.

Like, we're going
to feed our families.

..that will take
their cooking

to a whole
different level.

Captions by Red Bee Media