MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 15: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 15 [FINALE]

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• It's finally the MasterChef Asia Finale! In this episode, Marcus and Leong will go on a head-to-head cook-off by competing against each other in three rounds of intense MasterChef challenges that will showcase their abilities as the two of the top home cooks in Asia. The contestant with the most points out of a possible score of 100 will be crowned the first MasterChef Asia champion!
• It's been very fun covering this show and I hope you continue to read some of the other articles we put out. I promise that I'll cover season 2 of MasterChef Asia as well next year. I can't wait!
• This will be an intense cook-off. I thought that Marcus, Leong, and Ha all had the skills, techniques, and creativity to win MasterChef Asia. Sadly, Ha was eliminated early on. I don't have any complaints against Marcus or Leong winning the title because they are both very talented cooks. They both deserve the crown. 
• It's Singapore versus Malaysia! I'm personally rooting for Leong because I think he's the better cook. Marcus, however, is so talented that he can beat Leong with how precise he executes each of his dishes. Marcus is very good with desserts, but I question how well he will do with cooking savory dishes in the finale. Leong, on the other hand, is an amazing savory cook. 
• Here are the MasterChef challenges for tonight:
• Mystery Box - 30 points - 60 minutes to cook 1 dish
• 2-Course Meal - 30 points - 2 hours to cook a salad and main
• Pressure Test - 40 points - 1 hour to replicate a very difficult dessert

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 14: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 14

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• We're down to the final three MasterChef Asia Contestants! In this MasterChef Asia episode, the contestants had to cook a dish that's a often cooked by their mom but elevated to a MasterChef level with everything they learned in the competition. 
• The contestants had some inspiration at the start of the challenge with heartwarming messages from their mothers. The home, and especially our moms, serve as our first inspiration with the food we love to cook and eat so it's fitting that the contestants had to recreate and elevate their mom's signature dish. 
• The contestants had 1 hour to cook 4 portions of the signature family dish. They also have full access to an open pantry.

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 13: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 13

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• There are only four MasterChef Asia contestants left! In this MasterChef Asia episode, the contestants face their first restaurant takeover. Each contestant is in charge of one cooking up a signature dish from Fresh Les Amis Restuarant, Singapore - one of Asia's best restaurants.  
• The contestants look great wearing their chef jackets. All the remaining contestants have grown so much throughout the competition. They're putting up a lot more complex dishes as we head into the final few weeks and it's great to see the competition building up.
• All in all, the contestants will be serving 40 VIPs with each contestant cooking up 20 dishes. They had 3 hours to prepare and cook the dishes.  

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 12: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 12

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• We're down to only Five MasterChef Asia contestants! This MasterChef Asia Episode is all about Food and Travel. The contestants had to cook food that tells us of their travel and food experiences across Asia. 
• This episode is also the first double challenge, where each contestant was first given the task of coming up with a steak sauce that would pair well with a medium rare steak in just 15 minutes. The contestant with the best steak sauce gets 60 minutes to cook and the contestant with the worst sauce gets a terrifying 20 minutes to cook their travel-inspired dish. Everyone else has 50, 40, and 30 minutes depending on how delicious their steak sauce was. 
• Priya and Jasbir can't eat any beef, so the steak sauce challenge will be extra difficult for both of them. If one of them wins it, that would be pretty impressive.
• I don't envy the poor soul who has to cook a delicious dish in just 20 minutes. If that contestant isn't going home, It's going to be a miracle. 
• There is a lot riding on this challenge because the contestant with the most impressive dish gets an Air Asia ASEAN Pass and the winning dish will be the inspiration for a dish served on Air Asia X. As with all challenges, the contestant with the least impressive dish will get eliminated. All the contestants have full access to an open pantry.

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 11: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 11

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• We're down to the top 6! In this MasterChef Asia Episode, the contestants will have to work in teams to come up with an outstanding themed 2-course menu for 2 of Singapore's hottest young fashion designers. 
• So far, Lennard has won all the previous team challenges. Will he be able to continue that winning streak in this episode?
• The teams had to cook for the founder of Carrie K Artisan Jewelry Carolyn Kan and the woman behind Elohim, Sabrina Goh. The teams had to sit with the designers and understand each designer's food preferences. They will be judged by how well they can accomplish the brief both in presentation and flavor. 
• Each team will have to serve one main and one dessert to 25 of the designer's guests. They have 2 and a half hours to plan, prep, and plate food in the MasterChef Kitchen. 

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 10: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 10

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• This MasterChef Asia Episode is all about celebration and innovation as Singapore celebrates its 50th year of independence. Guest judge and Pastry queen Janice Wong graces this episode by showcasing some of her beautiful dessert creations to provide some inspiration to the contestants .
• It's interesting to note that all of the remaining contestants has cooked a top 3 dish at least once in the competition. Ha leads the way, putting up a top 3 dish for 4 times already.
• Finally, a dessert challenge! This episode is all about being innovative with desserts so the dessert guru Marcus and French-inspired patisserie Blanche should have this in the bag. 
• It's not easy to create a plate that has so many complex elements that blend together beautifully.
• The contestants will be judged based on the story that they put on the plate and how their desserts taste. Each contestant has 2 and a half hours with full access to an open pantry to communicate a story of celebration through their food.

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 9: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 9

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• This MasterChef Asia takes the contestants to one of the most popular entertainment destinations in Asia - Hongkong Disneyland.  They had the morning off to enjoy the sights and sounds of this magical place before they have lunch at Crystal Lotus restaurant.
• It was funny watching Ha enjoy some of the rides even though she was afraid of heights. I think we were able to get a glimpse of the contestants that we don't normally see when they're cooking and get to know them a little better. 
• The teams are faced with their first pressure test (isn't it a bit late into the show?) where they had to replicate one of four Rudolf Muller's award-winning dishes. These are the;
• Roasted Beef and Veal Tenderloin
• Salmon and Cod Timbale
• 5 Spice Veal and Beef Short Ribs
• Slow Roasted Lamb Loin
• The contestants had to replicate a Rudolf Muller dish within the time frame. They were given a recipe and all the ingredients they needed to make this dish at their station in the Royal Banquet Hall. 

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 8: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 8

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• This episode, the MasterChef Asia contestants had another team challenge at the Changi airport. There was an elaborate scene at the start of the episode where the contestants were asked to head to the airport with uber, so let's just call this 'The Uber Episode'.
• The contestants were divided into three teams of three with the top 3 contestants in the previous episode as team leaders, each with a stall in Changi Airport to run. The teams had to cook with a certain cuisine (chosen at random) - Indonesian, Japanese, and Vietnamese. The team with the least number of votes will be facing elimination. 
• The teams had 30 minutes to check out the competition at Changi Airport to observe the food standards and portion sizes in the airport
• They had 2 and a half hours to plan and prepare their dishes, after which they'll transport the food to Changi Airport for a 1 hour service. They had to prep enough food to serve as much passengers as they can. 

MasterChef Asia: What's in a Redmart Staple Pantry Box?

What's in your home staple pantry box? Well, whenever our MasterChef Asia contestants are faced with a challenge to whip up an amazing dish in the MasterChef kitchen, they need some basic pantry staples to help them create the perfect dish.

They are armed with these basic pantry ingredients so that they can create something amazing. You should know better and have these pantry staples in your kitchen at all the time.

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 7: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 7

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• In this MasterChef Asia episode, the contestants had to cook dishes that would raise money for World Food Day to help feed disadvantaged children around the world. 
• World Food Day is celebrated every 16th of October and is a day where people around the world come together with the goal of eradicating hunger in our lifetime.
• I love this challenge and it's great that MasterChef Asia dedicated an episode to promote World Food Day and help raise money for charity.
• This was an individual challenge, the contestants had to prepare 1 food item in just 2 and a half hours to feed around 150 guests. They had full access to the MasterChef pantry. The contestants had 60 minutes to serve their food and raise donations. The home cook who raises the most money wins the challenge while the cook that gets the least amount of donations gets eliminated.

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 6: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 6

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• In this MasterChef Asia episode, the contestants is faced with another team challenge. They were split into pairs, and each pair had to cook a dish (from one of five selected cuisines) using a Panasonic appliance and limited ingredients inside some Panasonic refrigerators and some basic pantry staples. 
• I guess we can safely call this the "Panasonic Appliance Pair Cuisine Challenge" then. Shameless plugging at it's finest!
• The losing team with go head-to-head against each other in an elimination challenge. 
• The cuisines were Thai, Spanish, Italian, French, and American. The appliances were a mixer-grinder, rice cooker, a stick blender, juicer, and bread maker. The choice of cuisine and appliance was determined by a knife draw. 
• Blanche had the first pick for both cuisine and appliance. It's her lucky day today because she chose number 1 both times! 
• Marcus and Lennard picked the number 5 so they had to cook with whatever cuisine and appliance was left - so that led to them trying to cook Thai food using a bread maker. Tough luck for two of the best contestants in the competition but they still have the ability to create something amazing. 

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 5: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 5

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• This episode features an invention test with a twist. The MasterChef Asia contestants had to re-invent the classic Singaporean Chili Crab. It's going to be a very tough challenge because crab is very easy to overcook but I'm excited with some of the creative dishes each contestant will cook. 
• The judges were nice enough to invite Celebrity Chef Eric Teo - Singapore's most famous chef and Executive Chef of Mandarin Oriental Singapore - to have a cooking demo of the Singaporean Chili Crab for the MasterChef contestants. A lot of the contestants were clueless on how to make this dish so it was a lucky break for them to see one of the best chefs in Singapore, with over 21 years of experience, whip up such a delicious dish.  
• The Chili Crab that Chef Eric Teo made looked absolutely stunning! He makes it look so easy.

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 4: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 4

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• This episode, the MasterChef Asia contestants had another team challenge. The contestants were faced with the difficult task of running their own Hawker Stalls in Lau Pa Sat, Singapore. 
• The contestants were divided into three teams of four (at random), each with a Hawker Stall that is assigned a particular cuisine. The team with the least number of votes will be facing elimination. 
• The teams were given 2 hours to prepare their dishes before their stalls will be open to the public. They were also given 10 minutes to plan for their dishes.
• The contestants will be cooking either Indian cuisine, Malaysian cuisine, and Chinese cuisine. 
• Marcus won the last challenge and he chose Indian cuisine, I don't think he took into consideration the preference of the regular customers of Lau Pa Sat. I think they would be more inclined to eat Malaysian or Chinese food rather than Indian food.

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 3: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 3

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• This episode features the first ever MasterChef Asia Mystery Box Challenge! Each contestant has a limited box of ingredients that they can cook with along with a limited staple pantry box. 
• The judges will only be tasting the 3 most outstanding dishes so it comes down to taste, execution, and plating. Whoever wins the mystery box challenge gets a huge advantage in the succeeding Elimination Test.
• For this mystery box challenge, the contestants had a box full of chicken, carrots, thyme, corn, asparagus, lime, yogurt, apple, and nori. The contestants had 60 minutes to cook an amazing dish using these ingredients.

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 2: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 2

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• It's the first ever MasterChef Asia team challenge and the contestants are tasked to feed 80 VIP guests going up on the Singapore flyer.
• Each team had to serve 5 varieties of canapés - small finger food that's you would see served during cocktail parties. They only had 2 hours to plan and prepare the canapés before they serve it to the VIP guests and two of the canapés had to be served hot.

MasterChef Asia Season 1 Episode 1: Recap and Thoughts on Episode 1

• Anybody else want to skip the opening credits, the one where they were introducing each contestant, because of the song?  
• The three MasterChef Asia judges are Audra Morrice, Susur Lee, and Bruno Menard. They each bring a lot of culinary experience to the table and I can't wait to hear some of their thoughts on plating, taste, and techniques in future episodes. 
• As for the 15 contestants, the show features 3 contestants from the Philippines, 3 from Singapore, 3 from Malaysia, 2 from Indonesia,  1 from Vietnam, Taiwan, China, and India. It's a bit sad to see that there are no contestants from Thailand, Hong Kong, or South Korea. Apparently, some contestants didn't make the cut because they couldn't communicate in English. 
• The Filipino contestants are Jake Aycardo, Lica Ibarra, and Rico Amancio. I do hope one of them wins it all and becomes Asia's first MasterChef. Go Philippines! 
• The prizes seem quite generous, although they are a mouthful. For the full list of MasterChef Asia prizes, check out the MasterChef Asia Primer. 

A Primer on Masterchef Asia

MasterChef, the biggest and most popular cooking competition in the world, heads to Asia where 15 of the best home cooks in the region will battle it out for the prestigious title of the first ever Asian MasterChef. The show will feature some of the best cooks from the Philippines, China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. 

The show will be aired on Lifetime Asia and will have the classic Mystery Box Challenges, Team Challenges, and Restaurant Takeovers. I can't wait to see some of the amazing dishes that the MasterChef contestants will come up with.