Original subtitles

Let's do it.

Not a cloud in the sky.

Beautiful! Another day.

A nice sunny morning for it. Yeah.

DECLAN: I'm excited. Mystery box. It's a new week.

It's a new day... Let's do it.

..and I'm feeling good.

ANDY: Hey!

Here we go, everybody! Find a mystery box.

Callum straight to his box. POH: Yeah.

Always back-right whenever he can.

It's a thing.

Did you have a spot? I can't remember.

I have no pre-assumptions on

what could be in this mystery box today.

I'm just keen to lift it up and see what's in there.

OK, then. Ready to find out what's under those boxes?

MANY: Yes.

You can lift your lids now.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

(LAURA LAUGHS)

Yes! Sick.

Did you get the same?

Yeah.

That's so good.

Chilli bean. Chilli bean sauce.

Both of us. Yeah.

Ooh! Very good.

Oyster sauce.

If you take a quick look around,

you and your neighbour have matching sauces.

Now, this is no accident.

This is the ultimate box clash.

The cook you're sharing your bench with is your opponent today.

(CONTESTANTS LAUGH AND EXCLAIM) ANDY: There it is.

ALANA: Why would you do that?

SNEZ: I thought we'd work together.

ALANA: I know!

Both of you need to bring us a show stopping dish

using your sauce.

We will taste them, compare them,

and whoever cooks the best dish out of the two will win their duel.

And the winner from each bench will head into immunity.

So game on.

Theo? Yeah.

How do you feel going up against Sarah next door?

Oh, I mean, she's an absolute gun in the kitchen, and, um...

I'm just glad it's not an Indian... (SARAH LAUGHS)

..inspired condiment,

so hopefully I can pull something out of the bag.

Is there much sesame oil in Indian cooking, Sarah?

You know what, there's some regions where it kind of crosses over...

(GRUNTS) (LAUGHTER)

Burmese... Unbelievable.

Laura, how do you feel going head-to-head with Depinder?

Um... Look.

I love it. I'm ready to destroy her.

ANDY: Oh! Here we go!

Someone is honest and I love it!

That's the Laura we know and love.

Depinder, how do you feel about that?

I thought we were friends.

Nope!

Not today. Not today, apparently.

DEPINDER: Today's going to be a really tough battle.

I think this is probably the hardest immunity

because I'm versing not against anyone else but Laura.

So today I'm going to be a little bit more strategic than usual.

Righto, listen up. We're giving you 75 minutes.

The pantry and garden, they're both open.

You can cook whatever you like,

but do not let that sauce fall by the wayside.

So, with all that said, your time starts now!

And they're off!

I've got so many things to get.

I've got soy sauce

and I'm going head-to-head with Cal next to me.

You know, he's an amazing chef.

He's got restaurants up his sleeve.

He's been on this show since he was 18 years old.

But I'm certainly going to give him a run for his money today.

CALLUM: I'm not going to be holding back today.

I'm going to do everything I can to try and beat Declan here.

I know he's a great cook.

I know that he's going to cook a great dish with this product.

So my strategy today

is to cook something interesting and elevated.

Argh.

I am loving this. Yeah.

It's battle of the sauces,

and there are some amazing jars and bottles out there.

And we've got some pretty dynamic duos

going up against each other.

It's going to be really exciting. POH: Yeah. Wildly different.

Oh, that just exploded all over my face.

I don't really want to totally destroy him,

although I'm sure he has something different to say.

(THEO LAUGHS)

What do you think of the flavours of these sauces, Jean-Christophe?

Yeah, very interesting -

obviously packed full of flavours,

and what they have is different ways to be creative.

I think it will be interesting to see who's going to be the most...

..the most on the sweet side, on the savoury side.

Yeah, they're very versatile. Yeah.

There is 100% strategy

when you're turning around and eyeing whoever you're cooking against off.

Like, yes, you want to cook something that's true to you,

but you also need to probably look at what the strength or weakness is

of who you're up against and really play to that,

because we all know how important immunity is.

This is the top 14. Yeah.

We're getting down to the business end. Yeah.

Ooh.

Oof.

Today I'm up against Theo. I'm feeling good.

I think sesame oil is such a delicious ingredient to use.

It can be very strong and powerful,

but I think it just is amazing in whatever it's in.

So I'm making a steamed snapper with a broth

that I'm making with the sesame oil and a lot of other aromats,

and then a really beautiful Chinese-style salsa on top.

This is kind of a variation on a dish that I love making.

Big day today playing for immunity, but there's no strategy.

I just want to create a dish that I really love,

really tasty, and to make sure that it highlights the sesame oil.

She's a very good cook, Sarah.

Oh, my God.

I've got sesame oil,

and I'm going up against Sarah.

This is gonna be tough.

She's done this competition a few times.

She's owned restaurants.

She's a really accomplished cook.

So I'm thinking in my head -

a good strategy is to kind of stand out from the pack.

My mind goes to dessert,

and I'm going to do a dessert with sesame oil.

There's a Greek dessert that's called pasteli,

and it's a sesame bar that's sweetened with honey

and it's kind of chewy, and I'm kind of playing on that,

those flavours of sesame and honey.

But today, you know, we're lending ourselves to Asian flavours,

so, yeah, a bit of both cultures coming into this.

DEPINDER: Who the hell has a wok in here? Yeah, Callum has a wok in there.

Is that you? Yeah, no, that's Callum.

Why is there a wok in the blast freezer?

'Cause I'm using it cold. What are you going to do with it?

I'm interested.

When my sauce comes out of my pressure cooker...

Yeah.

..it's going to go straight into a freezing cold wok.

I'll explain later.

So for today's challenge, it's a head-to-head battle,

me versus Declan, using the Lee Kum Kee Premium soy sauce.

Deco, can I borrow two spring onions?

You sure can.

Just doing my shopping over here. Thank you, mate.

I quite like the idea of just going against one person.

It's a bit of fun.

Declan's a great guy and so it's a friendly competition,

but I know we both want to win.

So today I'm going to make a duck soup

with, like, a cinnamon myrtle and soy broth.

The idea of duck soup today is that I want to have a dish

that, kind of, you can see the soy sauce,

which is going to be a beautiful broth

that's going to get poured over at the end,

but have enough other aromatics

and kind of complexity of flavour going on.

So I'm going to cook the duck legs in the pressure cooker,

get them really lovely and tender, kind of falling off the bone.

I'm going to cook the breast of the duck

and get that sliced on the top as well.

POH: Declan versus Callum, the soya sauce boys.

Hello, Poh. How are you?

Hm.

Are you doing a little Asian take on duck a l'orange?

I hadn't thought about it like that, but, yeah, I guess so.

I loved how you could always pull out, like, really strong French technique

and apply it to an Asian dish

and do something really different that I would never have thought of.

Ah, well, thank you. This feels like what you're doing today.

Yeah. That's kind of the vibe. Yeah. Which is really clever.

I have tried to create a dish that kind of plays with my skill set,

being in the industry and running restaurants,

and what you do often get taught as a cook is

that classic French technique.

And so I feel like I can kind of take the techniques that I know and apply them today.

Declan, I was about to close the lid on my pressure cooker

and I was like, "Wait, I haven't got any soy sauce in it yet."

Ho-ho, that was lucky! Don't forget the soy, mate.

Don't forget the soy.

I'm absolutely stoked I got the premium soy sauce.

But Cal's next to me,

and he's got a hell of a lot of elements going on his bench.

I can see a duck.

He's got some broths and little things going on the side.

He's got a lot of cheffing experience up his sleeve.

And here I am,

just the season 15 underdog, you might say.

Getting soy,

I really want to do a dish that's like...

..you know, smack you in the face with that premium soy sauce,

You know, the gloves are coming off and I can't wait to take Cal out.

Deckers, what are you doing?

So I'm doing a soy-braised pork,

and I'm going to do, like, the stretchy noodles.

Hand-pulled? Hand-pulled.

And you've done this before, obviously.

Yeah, I have.

But you don't have much time for that dough to rest.

I'm a little bit nervous about it.

Do you know what Callum's doing?

Yeah, he's doing a duck,

so a bit of competition up the back here.

Protein against protein. Protein against protein.

But it's all going to come down to these hand-pulled noodles.

I'm back to win.

And in order to win, I've got to beat him a couple of times anyway...

Alright, alright. So just focus on the noodle.

Correct. And make sure that that's balanced to perfection.

Yep. Thank you, Poh. Good luck.

I saw a masterclass on MasterChef,

and I thought it's really cool that you don't need a pasta maker

or a machine or anything like that to create this dish.

I've made them a handful of times, but certainly not in 75 minutes.

If the dough doesn't rest, it's just not going to stretch.

So I'm feeling the pressure, that's for sure.

Make your sauce sing.

60 minutes to go.

(SILENCE)

Whoo!

That's so spicy. (COUGHS)

Going head-to-head with Depinder with an Asian chilli oil,

this freaks me out.

Her Asian and Indian food is absolutely insane.

So I'm going to be strategic.

I'm going to go sweet knowing that she's probably going to go savoury.

Depinder is my victim today. Yeah, she's going down.

She doesn't know it yet, but she's going down.

I want to do everything in my power

to make sure I've got the best chance against Depinder.

I know my desserts really well, I love making them,

and I just think adding chilli to a dessert is

very, very different and unique.

But I look over at Depinder,

she's got sugar, she's got eggs,

and there's an ice-cream churner on her bench.

Oh, no. Oh, man!

Depinder's copying me!

I've got sugar, I've got eggs and an ice-cream churner.

It's like, "Oh, my God, she's making a dessert as well.

"What have I done?"

(THEO CHUCKLES)

Wrong bench.

I was absolutely banking on Depinder making an Indian-style dish,

but she's making a dessert as well.

I'm not trying to sabotage you. You are.

My strategy is out the window.

And now it's the battle of the chilli desserts.

POH: Laura and Depinder.

Hello.

Are you making a dessert, young lady?

Yeah. I sure am. Wow.

Yeah. Describe.

Um... Coconut and lime yoghurt sorbet...

Yep. ..with a chilli caramel.

It's gonna be the battle of the chilli desserts.

Very interesting.

Depinder. I'm making a dessert as well.

Yeah, we're having a dessert-off over here. Oh, wow.

Battle of the Chiu Chow chilli oil.

I was like, "Goddammit,

"I should have made some noodles or something."

(ALL LAUGH)

What are you making?

So I'm doing a chilli oil ice-cream.

I'm gonna serve that on the base of beautiful coconut sago pudding.

Yeah... Mm. Intrigued.

Interesting!

It's all about the balance, isn't it?

Like, playing with chilli in a dessert is just...

It's tricky. Yeah, it's really, really tricky.

Just quickly, though, this is going to make your battle even harder.

I know, I know. It's going to be...

Well, it's kind of like an even playing ground, then.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe. Kind of.

OK, well. Good luck. Thank you.

I think standing out is key today,

especially when we're both trying to feature the chilli oil.

I wanted to do dessert

because I wanted to make something which is unexpected for the judges.

I mean, when you see chilli oil,

ice-cream is the last thing that comes on your mind.

I know it's a big risk, but if it pays off,

I'm cooking in that immunity tomorrow.

I just need to make sure that my dish is perfect.

SOFIA: There's double trouble at your benches today.

45 minutes to go. ANDY: Come on!

JAMIE: Oh, I've had this many times.

The XO sauce boys. Beau versus Jamie.

XO. XO.

Happy with that? Love it.

This out of the jar...

Strong, punchy. Yeah.

..is great and, like, could do its job,

but how do you get creative with it?

So it'll be XO prawn noodles.

OK. I love noodles. So you don't get creative with it.

You don't, no. You just take it for what it is.

And, Jamie, what are you doing?

I thought I'd do blue swimmer crab XO churros.

Interesting. It kind of sounds like a Chinese doughnut.

Yeah.

Andre and Samira, you both have oyster sauce.

What are you cooking?

A scallop and prawn filled chicken wing

glazed with...front and centre will be our oyster sauce.

Samira?

I'll be using oyster sauce as a marinade for my spatchcock,

which I'm going to cook on the hibachi.

So now we've got oyster sauce against oyster sauce.

We've got bird against bird. Yep.

How are you feeling about

the creative intricacy that is Andre?

I know I have a big competition there

because he loves to think outside the box,

so I'm hoping that will fail him today

and allow me to pass.

I'm trying to be in the box today, though, that's the thing.

I don't know. I'm trying to think in the box, out of the box.

I have no idea.

All I know is I can barbecue a good piece of chicken.

SARAH: It's serious business in here.

Theo is on to a dessert next to me with the sesame oil,

so I think that's really interesting, I think...

Yeah, he's pushing the boat out a little bit today,

doing something a little bit different,

which is exciting.

THEO: Thanks, Sarah. That's very nice of you.

Today I'm making a sesame and snapper broth

with a steamed snapper,

and Theo is making a dessert.

He's definitely putting everything into this cook.

I think he wants to win.

So I am nurturing this broth like there is no tomorrow

to make sure that it highlights the sesame oil.

So my broth is coming along nicely.

I'm just going to keep balancing it as it cooks down a little bit more.

And I'm just working now on my fish.

I'm feeling really comfortable using sesame oil.

This is a dish that's a little bit more fine dining,

but I have done variations of this at home.

I love these flavours.

It's kind of a dish where you can really amp up the sesame oil

and the fish is this vehicle that kind of carries all those flavours,

and I'm happy with it.

Are you doing sweet

because you're trying to have a different strategy from Sarah?

Yeah. Trying to. Really.

Yeah, trying to differentiate myself a bit.

I mean, she's a very good cook.

So for this honey, sesame and ginger Greek dessert

I'm really going all out.

My sauce is sesame seed oil,

and Lee Kum Kee put so many sesame seeds in it,

then I'm putting sesame seeds all over this dessert.

It's going to be in every single element.

I think there's two major pressure points in this dish -

the texture of the semifreddo

and then that sesame seed oil caramel.

Pretty good.

The perfect semifreddo needs to be light in texture,

it needs to be like you're eating a cloud,

but at the same time it needs to be set.

So this is really, really critical.

So I'm feeling very good about the semifreddo.

It's very light and airy, which I'm very happy about.

I just need to get it into the fridge now and set.

So, yeah, feeling pretty good.

So my semifreddo is setting,

my sesame seed crisp is cooking in the oven.

I'm working on my sesame oil caramel.

I think my decision to make a dessert has paid off,

because I look over and Sarah is definitely going the fish route.

Just sesame seed oil, you know, that's been done and dusted, Sarah.

I'm going with something new, fresh.

So I hope I'm in with a chance.

Head-to-head, sauce to sauce and 30 minutes to go.

God, you've got good projection.

Deep! It's like...

Hello. Might be safe and finish it in the oven.

How's the duck?

Fingers crossed. It's looking alright.

Hello. How's the pork coming along?

Yeah. It's coming. Ooh, sticky.

Yeah, yeah, I want it to be sticky. Yeah.

The clock is ticking and my pork's braising.

I'm feeling good.

I can taste and visually see that soy sauce in there.

Yum-yum-yum.

But now I need to have a crack at these noodles.

Alright, there's a little bit of resistance.

Yeah. Alright.

Go on, then. Go on.

What are you waiting?

I'm scared. There's no time to be scared,

you've got to just get on with it.

If the only people I see making hand-pulled noodles

are like your little Chinese grandmas just going to town

in the windows, slapping them out,

swirling them around their head, just doing all sorts,

and they seem like they've got the years behind them to back it up.

Where, you know, Declan,

cooked hand-stretched noodles a handful of times.

We'll see.

JEANÐCHRISTOPHE: I don't know how he's going to manage that.

I have no idea how the hell he's supposed

to make those Chinese noodles ready on time.

Have you seen what he's doing? Yeah, I can.

Have you done that before? I have.

I mean... Yeah...

I don't need to be a Chinese cooking expert

to realise there's no way on earth...

And they're very thick.

I'm not a veteran noodle-puller!

Interesting. What are you doing? Just having a little look.

I thought you had mushrooms on that were burning, you know?

Are you sure you're going to do it that way?

Yeah.

Oh, we have battles and strategy

absolutely everywhere out there.

There's a few sly little digs. Yeah...

..from their neighbours, isn't it? Totally.

As they're talking about each other,

the other one looks up, they're like, "What did you say?"

Yeah. I'm coming for you, Depinder.

JEANÐCHRISTOPHE: We have Theo and Sarah,

sesame oil is between the two of them

and clearly Theo changes strategy,

he's looking at Sarah doing a snapper with a broth obviously.

And she looked like she knows what she's doing.

Theo is going for something sweet, which is not going to be easy.

He's using an Asian flavour profile.

So he's got, like, ginger sesame seeds.

So he's bolstering the flavour with more sesame seeds,

but he's using as a memory prompt,

a Greek dessert that he grew up with.

OK. And I think it all sounds very sound.

I think it's a very smart...

I'm really dying to know about Declan v Callum.

Oh, OK. So, so... Oh, my God, yeah.

Um, it's kind of like young whippersnapper against the veteran.

Yeah. So Declan wants to do a hand-pulled noodle.

Really? Which I am so stressed about.

It's working. It's working. Yes, you can do it.

Callum is kind of doing almost like a Asian version of duck a l'orange.

So he's doing a master stock, cooking legs in there,

pressure cooking that.

I'm certainly having fun today. It's a good challenge.

OK, so the big one for me is the two girls, Laura and Depinder.

So Laura has picked a dessert, right?

Because obviously she knows she's standing next to the spice queen.

But Depinder is doing a dessert as well.

What? Hold on, what's their sauce?

They've got Chiu Chow-style chilli oil.

So Laura's chilli is in the caramel.

And Depinder's doing a chilli oil ice-cream. Oh, there it is.

I think this is going to be an amazing tasting.

Yeah, I cannot wait. Yes.

14 minutes to go, please. Come on.

Allez!

This one's a bit smaller.

Alana and Snez with chilli bean sauce.

What are you doing?

Doing Turkish dumplings in a little chilli buttermilk sauce.

Chilli bean sauce. Do you cook with this a lot?

Not really, but do you know what?

First thing that came to my mind is like crab chilli.

So I'm going with, like, Singapore chilli crab.

Are you excited to cook against Alana?

I'm excited to beat Alana today. Not just cook against.

Just beat her - straight up.

Audra versus Ben. The battle of the hoisin.

So today I'm going to make a rice pudding with a hoisin caramel.

It's gonna be completely different to what she's done.

So, today, I'm going to be making duck pancakes.

So it's a little bit predictable.

This battle is something that I'm absolutely fascinated in because...

SOFIA: It's going to be very interesting.

..over here, Ben is doing something like

so far away from tradition, it's not funny.

Hoisin in a dessert rice pudding dish.

Hoisin in a dessert?! That'll never work.

SOFIA: Well, let's see. We'll see.

Good luck. Thank you.

I'm coming, Depinder. I'm following you. She's following me.

What are you getting? What are you getting?

We have really good banter going on at the moment,

so it's actually becoming like a friendly competition

with both of us using Chiu Chow chilli oil in a dessert.

You know, like those cricket matches

which are friendly but not so friendly.

I think I'm going well for time, actually.

So my ice cream's churning. It's almost there.

So it's really good news there.

And I'm working on the tapioca pudding.

So this will be the base of the actual dessert.

The sago pudding is... It's going to be a little bit sweet,

but it's got that little edge of saltiness

to offset the chilli oil.

Oh. You're done. Oh. How is it?

Oh, girls. Oh, wow, girl, wow.

Time to take my ice-cream out.

It looks beautiful.

There's little bits of crispy, you know, chilli and garlic.

You can just look at it and say, "This is a chilli oil ice-cream."

I give it a taste and it tastes so good.

It's definitely confronting

because you don't realise how strong that chilli oil is.

So I need to make sure the way I plate up as well,

I use the right quantities of each element.

Whoever wins today has to win immunity tomorrow.

OK? Oh, ah, ah, um...

Come on. Mm.

Depinder is absolutely killing it.

The smells coming off her bench are just, like, incredible.

As we knew already, she's such a good cook.

So I know that I need to make sure there's enough chilli to shine.

The chilli oil is going to be

in my really bitter and salty caramel

that will sit on the bottom of my dessert.

Tasting this caramel, I think

I've had about 10 tablespoons already.

It's so addictive.

It's bitter, it's salty

and it's got a really good kick of that chilli oil,

so I'm going to use it

as a glaze over every element for some extra spice.

I really want to beat Depinder today.

Any opportunity to grab immunity - the battle is on.

SOFIA: Make that sauce sing!

You've got five minutes to go.

ANDY: Come on. Just five minutes.

There we go.

It's working. Argh!

Oh, God! Whoo!

Five minutes to go,

and I get these noodles in the pot to boil.

I'm really cutting it fine here. We're good.

Some a bit wonky, but I've done what I can do.

Here we go, mate. Good luck. Look at these tricky techniques.

Putting a wok in the blast chiller.

What, you've never dabbled?

You won't find anyone doing that on the streets in China.

Look over to Cal's

and he's got this beautiful duck breast.

He's got some nice little daikons going on there that he's julienned.

It does look really tasty.

Tasting my broth, I think there's a really nice balance

of sweetness from the mandarin that's in there.

And I think I can taste the soy sauce

without it being overbearingly salty.

So, hopefully, I've hit the brief today.

Time to start plating up.

And I've got that duck leg meat tossed in that Geraldton wax and ginger oil.

The breast is just there, quite classically done.

I've got a big old pile of shredded daikon here,

which is going to sort of suck up all those flavours.

And I want to have all those little condiments on to the side, the charred mandarin,

the toasted sesame sauce and that Geraldton wax oil.

And I think it looks really fresh, looks really interesting.

Looking at Declan's dish, and he's made these beautiful hand-pulled noodles

and his pork smells and looks amazing.

It's all kind of glossy and shiny,

so I think it's going to be a really tight battle today.

So I'm pretty happy with my dish,

but I'd be pretty happy with his dish, too.

We want the top dish from each batch. Three minutes to go.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Yay!

LAURA: My idea for plating up is to have the chilli caramel on the bottom,

the chargrilled pineapple on top of that, the finger lime,

the toasted coconut, the sorbet and the chilli crisp on top.

I'm hoping that once the judges crack into this, in that mouthful,

they're getting the creaminess

and the refreshingness of that sorbet,

the spice from the caramel,

that chargrilled, smoky sweetness from that pineapple.

And you're getting lots of little salty and sour pops

from every single element.

But looking at Depinder's dish, it looks gorgeous.

So Depinder's used the chilli oil in her ice-cream today,

and I've used it in my caramel

and I think it's just going to come down to "does that chilli shine?"

One minute to go. (THEY SHOUT ENCOURAGEMENT)

THEO: I'm pushing it a bit now. I've got my sesame seed crisp.

Looks amazing. I'm taking out my semifreddo.

It's set. It looks fantastic.

My sesame seed oil caramel is the perfect texture.

I've got my sesame seed and white pepper praline.

I can't believe I've just pulled off such a sophisticated dessert.

It actually looks like something you would get in a restaurant.

And I'm so happy. SARAH: That looks nice, Theo.

Mm. Mm.

I definitely think I've hit the brief.

I've used sesame oil throughout my dish.

It's beautiful and on the top,

and it's also all the way through that broth.

So I think, through every bite,

there should be a little delicate hit of sesame oil.

Feeling a little bit saucy.

10...

JUDGES: Nine, eight, seven

six, five, four,

three, two, one.

Come on!

DEPINDER: Girl!

DECLAN: Nice, Cal!

Good job. Well done.

How did it go? Looks lovely. Yeah. Good.

I'm looking at Theo's dish, and it looks absolutely stunning.

I've never seen him present anything like this before,

so I'm honestly freaking out.

Who would have thought that some sauces

would get your competitive juices flowing like that?

And there was some delicious-looking food out there.

You had to fight it out against the person next to you.

And, boy, did you all put up a good fight.

But only one person per bench

can head into tomorrow's immunity challenge.

First up, the sesame oil showdown -

Theo and Sarah!

ANDY: Sarah, what's the dish?

So, steamed snapper with a sesame and snapper broth.

Very, very clear cut. Pretty much two elements.

And, Theo?

So I've got a honey and sesame semifreddo

with sesame oil caramel,

and a black and white sesame crisp.

And lychees as well.

Why the dessert today?

I thought I have to do something that stands out

from what Sarah is going to do because...

You intimidated him, Sarah? Yeah.

No. Yeah. Big time.

He's doing really well. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I just thought she will either go down the same route

as what I'm doing, or she's going to go very classic.

And I just went, "Alright,

"I'm going to try and go something different."

What would have been your savoury dish if you did?

I'm not even lying. It was very similar to that.

A steamed fish with like a broth of, you know,

the sesame oil and ginger.

Did you have a strategy, Sarah?

No, I didn't. No strategy.

I just wanted to cook a dish

that highlights the sesame oil and is tasty.

Looking forward to this. See how you went.

I think we'll start with the savoury.

Sarah, what I love about this dish

is how clean and unassuming it looks,

and then how much it absolutely sparks you awake with flavour.

I love that you can see the little droplets of sesame oil

in your broth as well.

You really do feel that as the leftover flavour,

even once that kind of really intense spice starts to mellow down.

Snapper can be absolutely murdered.

And that was beautifully cooked.

And then the broth.

I was a little bit worried when tasting the broth

that the sesame wasn't going to be enough.

But as soon as you got the remnants of that oil that had leached out,

then it just becomes a full-on symphony

and it's absolutely executed perfectly.

What you did is mind-blowing. Thank you.

SARAH: Thank you.

Alright, Theo. Time for dessert. Beautiful.

Theo. I really, really loved it.

I thought that your use of the sesame

was absolutely outstanding.

The semifreddo was perfect,

so beautifully fluffy and silken

and that caramel was perfection.

This is a challenging one, but in such a good way.

I would much rather that you cook this than something like that,

because she would've wiped the floor with you.

And I say that with a lot of respect,

but that's close to perfection, right?

It's got a subtle perfume of sesame,

but it's definitely there.

The combination that I love here is going on between the sesame,

the white pepper and the lychee.

I thought it was crazy good, mate.

Like, so, so, so far away in complexity

from what we've seen from you before,

it has blown my mind.

We have a game on our hands here.

Two very different dishes, guys. But both use sesame oil really well,

so this one's going to be a toughie. Thank you.

THEO: Thank you.

Good job. Well done.

I'm so happy. My dish was amazing.

This is why I pushed the boat out.

So I'm in with a chance.

Next - battle of oyster sauce.

Andre and Samira.

ANDRE: Today I've made stuffed chicken wings with an oyster sauce glaze.

SAMIRA: I have made a oyster sauce marinated poussin.

I love both dishes. I think they're both really great.

Samira, I would say that your poultry

is probably more moist than Andre's.

But Andre has gone to the effort of stuffing his.

So that kind of leaves them neck and neck for me.

ANDY: Next up, the battle of the XO sauce - Jamie versus Beau.

So I've made crab XO youtiao with XO caramel.

So I've got egg noodles with prawns and XO sauce.

Jamie, I'll start with you.

The concept was brilliant,

but it's such a shame

because you really do miss all of the blue swimmer crab,

and because you're missing that,

it does go quite sweet

because you're digging into an XO caramel.

And then, Beau, mate, you went classic.

And I think it was great strategically, you know,

because you've got a guy that was willing to take risks.

Your noodle work was sensational, mate.

Snez and Alana, the great chilli bean sauce duel.

ALANA: So, I've made Turkish dumplings

with a buttermilk and chilli bean paste sauce.

SNEZ: So, I've got my take on Singapore chilli crab.

Alana, your dish is very well executed.

It is delicious.

And you have not lost out the chilli.

Nailed it.

Thank you.

Snez, I'm a little bit surprised

because all the elements don't suit together.

Thank you.

Next up, the hoisin-off - Ben v Audra.

BEN: I've made a coconut rice pudding with hoisin caramel,

blackberries and dark chocolate.

Well, I went for something a little bit more classic.

So, braised duck pancakes.

Audra, I think the beauty of this dish for me

is what's going on in that hoisin-orange number that you did.

Kind of permeated all through that duck leg.

And then, Ben... Whew!

I'm glad you did this

because you wouldn't have really been able to compete with this.

There is amazing potential between the blackberry,

the chocolate and then the hoisin caramel.

And I think you are that close, my friend.

Cheers, crew.

(APPLAUSE)

Next up, battle of the backbench, using choosing premium soy sauce,

Callum and Declan!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Declan and I were walking up to the judges,

and looking at his dish,

I think he showed a lot of technique today.

I think it's a really creative use of the soy ingredient as well,

which leaves me a little bit worried.

JUDGES: Wow!

This just looks so much like you, and this looks so much like you.

There's a bit of a battle there.

Right, so the battle of the soy sauce,

featuring Declan, the young MasterChef whippersnapper,

versus Callum, who's basically done everything there is to do

in this competition bar win it.

(LAUGHTER) How was that?

Righto, let's find out what you made, Declan.

DECLAN: I've done a soy-braised pork with hand-pulled noodles.

Nice. And, Callum?

I've made duck soup.

So, it's duck leg and breasts with a soy and cinnamon myrtle broth.

Declan, we'll try yours first.

Slippery little suckers.

Declan, love the idea.

Like, you know, soy-braised pork is, like, classic.

And it really does showcase soy sauce.

I actually really love

that glossy finish that you've got on the pork.

It's very borderline, like, it's to the limit

in terms of the caramelisation of the soy,

but I kind of like it like that.

The noodles I thought were, like...

They were OK. They're very inconsistent.

Even though they are a little bit rustic,

I love that you had a go at it and you just pushed through.

There were many strands that were really lovely

and had that lovely chew to them.

So I think you got all that across.

The flavour is perfect - the seasoning, the warm spices.

Everything is balanced really, really well.

And the pork was perfectly cooked.

Perfect choice of dish, and well done.

Righto, Callum, we'll try your duck soup.

Oh, there's leg meat down the bottom.

Callum, such a different use of soy to Declan.

I've actually really enjoyed the contrast of the two dishes.

What brought it all together for me,

other than the sweetness of this burnt lime,

was the grated daikon - is that what that was?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

There's not really any other vegetable that soaks up broth

and flavour quite like daikon, so that was a really clever choice,

especially because it's so fresh and you've got

that rich duck meat in there, as well.

I always wanted to be blown away by a canard a l'orange...

..and I think you did.

And you did it with a...you know, a spicy style.

The broth is fantastic.

You know, you've got something which has a lot of depth.

You can get the duck flavour, which is very important.

I really enjoyed your dish.

Nice one, lads. Thank you.

Good job, mate. Well done, mate.

Good job. Good one, buddy.

Thanks. Yay.

It's the battle of the Chiu Chow chilli oil!

Laura and Depinder, come on down.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DEPINDER: Walking up to the judges, we both have to walk up together.

They're going to taste our dishes side by side.

And we've both got ice-creams, we've both got desserts,

and we've both used chilli oil.

How wonderful.

If I got Chiu Chow chilli oil,

this is the last place I would have gone.

You've both done desserts.

So, Laura, what have you made?

So, I did a coconut yoghurt and lime sorbet,

chargrilled pineapple and a pineapple and chilli caramel,

with a Korean chilli crisp on top.

And Depinder?

So, on the top, I've got the chilli oil ice-cream,

I've got a sago pudding on the base, and a lychee and a lime granita.

Alright, let's see

who's made the best dessert.

And we're going to start with Depinder.

Whoa! (LAUGHTER)

Sorry, I just had to let that out.

Depinder...

..oh, my goodness, that is...

..so bloody good.

It's so complex.

Like, you've got all those beautiful little balls of sago.

I get all the little individual pearls,

and they're still actually chewy.

And then you have the chilli oil ice-cream.

It is such a wonderful push-pull sensation that I get,

and it's happening through the whole dessert.

It's so dynamic.

And it is so magical.

You've got this chilli oil ice-cream, right?

Which is just, like, so impeccable by the texture,

but also the amount of heat you've introduced to that as well,

because it's got a bit of boogie going on.

Then what you've done so smartly is tame that heat,

not just with acidity, through that lychee and lime granita,

but the texture of the sago as well.

You've done it so well, and it manages to just pull back

the amount of chilli that's going on.

And so, then, you're like, "I want to do that again.

"I want to do that again." And it's addictive.

And that is why your dish is a 10.

Wow.

Alright, next up is Laura.

Look at this! SOFIA: Oh, you're like a kid in a candy store right now.

I know.

Wow. Wow.

He-he! Oh!

Wow.

We've eaten all of both desserts.

Laura, this is...

I mean, it's just like, you're like, "Hi, I own restaurants."

That's how I feel when you put down a lot of your food,

but particularly today.

Your Korean starch sheets

are the most creative use of a condiment in the kitchen today,

um, which I think counts for a lot.

And, yeah, I kind of feel like it was a combination

between eating cellophane and fairy floss, was what I got.

Yeah. So it has that kind of,

candy thing going on,

and then it just dissolves, and you are left

with a very clear taste of chilli oil,

without it blowing your brains out.

So, really cool and such a fun thing to eat.

The charry-ness, the spice and the acidity of caramel,

pineapple, coconut, all together, are...

..next-level, impeccable.

The pineapple is perfect. I love how hard you went on it.

The chilli caramel also.

The texture of your sorbet

and the flavour of the coconut in that is spot-on.

Whoooo-wee!

This is gonna be an interesting one.

Like, it's two 10s. It's as simple as that.

No matter where you are,

no matter what restaurant, what back alley, wherever,

what park, if you are eating them, they're 10s.

I have zero idea how we're going to do this and split you two.

With a 50-50 shot at a win today,

you were all gunning for it.

None of you were going down without a fight,

and it showed on your plates.

But only half of you can leave here as winners.

So, let's get down to business.

OK, first up, Jamie versus Beau -

the XO sauce showdown.

The winner is...

..Beau. Hey!

(APPLAUSE)

Well done, mate. Cheers, mate.

Losers!

(LAUGHTER)

Come on, Ben.

Just give me one minute.

Give me 30 seconds.

Ben versus Audra.

The hoisin-off.

The winner is...

..Audra. Well done, well done.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Declan versus Callum.

The battle of the premium soy sauce.

The winner is...

..Callum.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Alana versus Snez, the great chilli bean sauce duel.

The winner is Alana.

Thank you. Righto.

Well done. Come on, then.

Andre versus Samira.

Bird against bird,

oyster sauce against oyster sauce.

The winner is...

..Andre!

Congratulations.

(APPLAUSE)

Theo versus Sarah.

Ooh! (LAUGHTER)

Well...

Sweet against savoury with sesame oil.

And the winner is...

..Theo! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Congratulations. Well done.

SOFIA: Here we go. The one we've all been waiting for -

Laura versus Depinder.

The dessert stand-off with Chiu Chow-style chilli oil.

You girls had us so torn.

But one of you gave us something

more unexpected, in the best way ever.

And that was you...

..Depinder!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DEPINDER: This is crazy. This is...this is unreal.

I have a chance for tomorrow's immunity.

It's also my first immunity cook in the kitchen,

so I'm really going to give it my all.

You won't hear the end of this.

(LAUGHS) I love that!

(GROANS)

Ah, so bummed that I didn't take the win today.

But a 10 out of 10 dessert? I will absolutely take it.

SOFIA: Tomorrow, you seven will have a shot at immunity.

Everyone else, you'll be cheering them on from the gantry.

So go home and get some sleep.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night...

We want you to bring us a pressure-test-worthy dessert

of your own invention.

(CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM)

..when cooks this talented...

SNEZ: Oh, look at that!

..have the chance to create their own masterpiece...

They've got a full blank slate

to have a flex today.

AUDRA: This is going to be

a pressure-test-worthy dish,

for sure.

..the results... (JUDGES GASP)

..are... Whoa!

..jaw-dropping.

Oh, get out!

(ALL LAUGH)

You are kidding.

Captions by Red Bee Media