Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Previously on MasterChef Australia...

This is the Everything Box!

This is the most dreaded challenge on MasterChef Australia.

..as the challenges get tougher...

(CRIES) Sorry.

JAMIE: "I think you're the most courageous person I know,

"and I'm so bloody proud of you."

..the reason they're Back To Win hits harder than ever...

Wow-wee!

You feel that connection with your family.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: This multitude of flavours, textures,

colours is perfect.

That is just impeccable.

..with immunity going to Laura. Yes!

Please welcome Hugh Allen.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

And a service challenge

at one of the best restaurants in the country...

There are chefs from all over that would do anything

to be in my shoes right now.

..was a winner for Callum.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Tonight,

they're one step away

from making it to the top five.

(APPLAUSE)

Here we go, everybody. LAURA: Come on, guys.

Morning, all. CONTESTANTS: Good morning.

This is it.

Today is the day.

By the end of it,

we'll have our top five of MasterChef: Back To Win 2025.

Trust me when I say -

never has the competition been so close,

and everyone has got one hand firmly on the trophy.

Alright, you're gonna need all of your energy and focus for today.

This one is a massive two-rounder.

(EXHALES HEAVILY)

What you see behind us

is the key to today's challenge.

This display has been carefully put together

by two very special cooks,

who know exactly what it takes to go all the way in this competition.

Please welcome our first-ever MasterChef winner...

(GASPS)

..and last year's champion,

Julie Goodwin... Oh, my gosh!

..and Nat Thaipun! Hey! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Here they are!

Oh, my God.

That's fabulous.

Hi.

Hi.

Hi, Julie.

Welcome to the dark side. (LAUGHTER)

Yeah.

Julie, Nat, welcome back.

Thank you. Thank you.

Wow.

Julie, what's it like to be the first person ever

to win on MasterChef Australia?

Oh, it was wild. I mean, you remember.

You remember what those days were like.

I do.

But if you'd asked me then what I'd be doing in 16 years' time,

I had no idea that it would have the longevity that it's had.

I'm so proud to have been a part of it

from the very beginning,

and to still be part of it now.

Jamie, do you remember watching Julie win in season one?

Yeah, I do remember watching Julie win season one.

Were you born? (LAUGHTER)

Thank you. You win today already. Done.

See you later.

No, I do remember watching it.

And I applied as soon as I'd finished watching the show.

Who knew, all these years later,

I'd be standing here in front of you,

still trying to cook.

Miss Natty, is it a bit weird standing up here? (LAUGHS)

I have the jitters. Oh, really?

(LAUGHS) I feel like I'm about to cook.

(LAUGHTER)

Be our guest.

Nat, how good does it feel to win this competition?

(LAUGHS) It feels so, so good.

Honestly,

it's the most rewarding thing ever

that I've ever done so far in my life,

and I think it always will be.

I want to say, what haven't you been doing since you won?

You're everywhere,

and you're just going at the speed of light, I feel.

Yeah, it's pretty crazy.

I went to London. Worked with Jamie, yeah?

Worked with Jamie, which was incredible.

And you've got a cookbook coming out?

Yeah. What's it called?

Thai: Everywhere And Anywhere.

Now, Nat and Julie,

I'm sure these ingredients behind us look mighty familiar to you two.

Yep. Yep.

(SHUDDERS)

(LAUGHS) Just joking.

That's because these pantries are comprised of all the ingredients

you used in your finale dishes.

(DEPINDER GASPS)

Julie...

..your sage and garlic chicken from season one.

Yep.

To take something that's as homely as roast chicken,

something we're you're all familiar with,

and to put it on the table with a restaurant interpretation

is something that's quite hard to do convincingly.

You actually achieved what you set out to achieve,

which is to go from being a home cook

to being a restaurant cook, so congratulations.

That's a beautiful dish. Thank you.

And Nat...

..your scotch egg from last season.

Nat, it is so delicious.

ANDY: You pull out a Thai Scotch egg...

(CHUCKLES) ..with finger lime,

caviar, mayonnaise and a nam prik noom

that would blow our heads off.

That is why we love you. That is why you're so good.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

So, Julie's ingredients, behind me here,

are actually my nightmare because they cost me the trophy.

(LAUGHTER)

Here's how these ingredients come into play.

You need to pick one of these two pantries

to create your own winning dish.

Either Nat's...

..or Julie's.

But choose carefully,

because if you cook one of the two bottom dishes,

you will fall into round two...

..and whatever you didn't cook with in round one,

that will be your pantry.

We're giving you 60 minutes.

So what's it going to be? Nat's pantry or Julie's pantry?

Choosing the pantry can be the difference

between staying here or going home.

And they are very different.

One's very Asian.

One's very European.

Far out.

(LAUGHS) Decisions? Decisions.

Yeah.

I'm looking at Julie's pantry.

You could make so much with this pantry, so many options.

Looking at Nat's,

and I can really only think of one really good dish with that pantry,

so I'm torn between choosing the pantry

I feel the most comfortable with, and I think it's going

to probably keep myself safe.

Or take a risk today,

and if I don't cook a good enough dish,

I've got a massive safety net and loads of time to think

what I can do with the other pantry.

Sarah, what pantry are you cooking with?

I'm going to go with Julie's today. OK.

Classic French flavours.

Yeah. Really excited about what's in there.

Ben, whose pantry are you going to be cooking with in round one?

I am going to choose Nat's.

OK. Why Nat's? Ooh, I like it!

Because it's more challenging for me, and I just feel like that

plus the pressure today is going to come up with something new

and hopefully get me out of round two.

Jamie, whose pantry have you chosen for round one?

I'm taking Nat's.

I've probably used Julie's pantry four or five times this season.

I think that I can build something beautiful

and really focused out of the flavours on Nat's side.

Depinder,

whose pantry are you going to choose in round one?

I'm going to go with Nat's pantry.

I would like to be safe from the second round.

I think that's my best bet.

You've got all your ingredients

Now, it's how you use them

that'll mean the difference between securing your spot

in the top five...

..and going home.

Gals, do you want to do the honour?

OK.

BOTH: Your 60 minutes starts now!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Oh, my gosh! Oh.

Sorry, babes.

SARAH: (CHUCKLES) I'm taking it all. (JEAN-CHRISTOPHE CHUCKLES)

Do you want me to carry your...? Oh, well, no-one else wanted it,

so... Do you want me to carry your basket?

Yeah. That would be great. I'll do that. Just give it to me.

Thank you.

JAMIE: Oh, my goodness, chivalry is not dead.

Thank you. I know.

Good luck, yeah? Thanks.

Jean-Christophe, could you just grab me the pork?

LAURA: No, Jamie.

Hey, it was worth a try.

I'm choosing Nat's pantry for the first round.

Nat's pantry has pork, lemongrass, limes and the lime leaves.

There's fish sauce, there's belachan.

There's so much flavour there to be had.

I'm quite comfortable cooking either side,

from Nat's or from Julie's pantry.

Um, but I don't plan on having to cook from Julie's pantry.

My goal is to make this as delicious as possible in the 60 minutes.

Today, I'm going to do a little dumpling using the pork.

Really make that bold and rich

and powerful, in terms of that filling.

I'm making an aromatic broth that'll go over the top of that.

It's going to be an elegant little plate of dumplings

with a beautiful broth, packed full of flavour.

First thing I need to do is char off my spices,

which are going to form a base for the broth.

I've got my pork in a pan

that's trying to get some colour on every side,

and that's going to go into my pressure cooker,

along with these charred aromats,

to start building that flavour and give a deep, dark,

roasty flavour to my broth in the end.

Developing depth from the get-go is the most important part

of this whole broth.

If I don't manage to build enough flavour into this broth,

then it's going to be like bad dumplings in murky water.

We have a very, very serious day on our hands.

Top five is one cook away.

I would be thinking about round two from the get-go.

I know that you don't... No-one wants to be there, right?

JULIE: No. I would probably leave the one

that I would be more comfortable with

and feel like I'd have a better cook in round two.

Yeah, that would be my strategy, too, Andy.

I mean, history tells me

that I'm going to end up in round two, so...

(LAUGHTER) POH: Me, too.

..I'd have something in my pocket that I'm going to be really comfortable with.

Yeah. Yeah.

SARAH: Today, I've chosen Julie's pantry.

I, um, first of all, love Julie.

And secondly, I think it's a really fantastic pantry

to go really classic.

I picked Julie Goodwin's pantry,

knowing that I can instantly lean on something

that is comfortable for me, and that's French techniques.

My strategy is to put everything I have into this cook,

and I am going to keep myself safe from round two.

I've got the whole pantry to myself.

Today, I am making confit chicken wingettes

with a potato fondant and a leek soubise.

A soubise is a sauce that is thickened,

kind of like a bechamel but loaded with leeks.

So, I want it to be this really beautiful, creamy puree

and just to add this really luxury element to this dish.

Confiting chicken is cooking it in a fat

at a really reduced temperature.

So, this is going to slow cook

around 60 degrees.

And as soon as it's ready, those bones will just slip out.

And I'll have these beautiful wingettes that are cooked perfectly.

While that's going, I want to create a really rich jus

that I can glaze these wingettes at the end.

My dish is definitely very heavy on technique,

but it's elements that I'm familiar with

and really think I can execute in this time.

POH: Julie, what do you remember about that finale dish?

Oh, I'll never forget.

So, we were given a whole chicken because that was our first cook

in the MasterChef kitchen. Yes.

What... My decision was purely around

all the different things that they'd taught us,

and a lot of the stuff that we were taught in the masterclasses.

Smart. Because guess what.

None of those things occurred to me. (LAUGHS)

DEPINDER: Today's a two-round elimination.

I do not want to be in that round two.

I want to be safe in round one,

so I'm going all in on Nat's pantry.

I watched all of last season, and I was obsessed with Nat.

I think she's so ballsy.

She's got a very unique style of cooking.

She brings in the modernisation into that traditional Thai flavours.

It's very inspiring for me.

So I'm going to use that, and I'm going to go wild with Nat's pantry.

I want to make sure that this dish shines.

I want to make sure the judges have never had anything

like this before,

their minds are blown,

and really hone into that pantry and those flavours.

Hey, Depinder. Hey, guys. How are you?

Good. You are moving!

You are moving. Yep. Yep, I've got a lot to do.

You... OK, I'm very interested

because I feel like you're going sweet,

and there are a lot of intense flavours going on here.

Random things? Yeah. Yeah. What have you got?

Um, I'm doing a curry with a roti for you guys,

except it's going to be a dessert.

Wow.

OK. Yeah.

Which part is the curry going in...? The ice-cream.

So, I'm going to do a Thai curry ice-cream

with a lemon, kind of like a gingery crumb to go under.

I'm going to do a roti with a chilli caramel.

Wow. OK.

Woo! You are really pushing.

60 minutes isn't a lot of time...

Too much time. ..for ice-cream.

I've made the ice-cream before,

and I've been wanting to do this combination for a while,

so I'm... Yeah, I really want to get this done.

I can see, like, shrimp paste, I...

How are you going to incorporate that into a dessert?

I've done the shrimp paste a little bit.

That's into my ice-cream anglaise.

Smell this. Yeah.

It smells like... Very Thai.

Oh-ho-ho! (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

Yeah, yeah.

It literally smells...

I'm just... Yeah.

And this is going in your ice-cream?

Shrimp paste in your ice-cream?

Shrimp paste in your ice-cream?

I'm just, like, surprised. Amazed. So am I, don't worry.

It's... Yeah. Curious. Intrigued. All of the above.

I'm very intrigued. I'm very intrigued.

When you get it right, it is so, so good.

Yeah.

This is another level up, right?

Yeah, I agree.

Like, this kind of savoury-sweet dessert, shrimp paste.

Yeah.

Are you even thinking about round two?

No.

Ice-cream and roti in 60 minutes?

Time to move. Good luck. Thank you, guys. Thank you.

There's a lot at stake right now.

Nat and Andy are like,

"This is wild, whatever you're trying to do."

Not entirely convinced at this point.

But if I don't add this shrimp paste into my ice-cream,

then that's not a Thai curry ice-cream.

I just remind myself I know these flavours.

I just need to keep going.

45 minutes to go!

Allez! LAURA: Woo! Let's go!

Sarah, it's smelling incredible.

Very classic.

Sarah. Hi.

You're the only one that's gone with Jules's pantry.

Oh, how could I not? She's the GOAT.

(ALL LAUGH)

That is true.

So you've kind of gone with the all-eggs-in-one-basket approach...

Yeah.

..which is go with your strength first, yeah?

Yes, totally. Tell us what you're making.

So I am making a really beautiful, confit chicken wingette dish.

I've got fondant potatoes,

and then I'm going to make a leek soubise, as well,

and a little bit of a tarragon-spinach oil.

Like, I love these ingredients,

I love these flavours,

so I'm still definitely pushing myself

with a lot of elements that are highly technical,

but I'm aiming to make sure that they're perfect.

Yeah. And...

Talk about a risk.

How long is that going to take to confit?

Um, a while.

So I've got to just keep an eye on it.

I've got to keep it under temperature

so it's cooked just enough.

You've picked two techniques that require a lot of time to do well.

Yeah. And you've got...

Not much time left.

I'm just a little worried about the confiting and the fondant.

Yeah. So just good luck with that.

Yeah. Thank you. Good luck, Sarah.

Thanks so much. Cheers. Good luck, Sarah.

You're halfway through, so only 30 minutes to go!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Smelling incredible.

DEPINDER: OK. Come on, chilli caramel.

Come on, Deeps. Go, babes.

Maybe a bit more.

It's chilli caramel, yeah? So... May as well.

(LAUGHS) Whoa!

(COUGHS)

Whoa!

Damn, that's really spicy.

If Nat's gone, Andy's doomed.

What are you making, Ben?

BEN: I'm making a pork mince-filled tortellini

with, like, chilli and kaffir lime.

And I'm doing a really, really deep broth around the outside

with, like, Thai flavours.

Choosing Nat's pantry might seem like a bit of a risk.

It's not my style of cooking,

but to me it makes so much sense to take this pressure

and challenge myself in the first round.

But at the same time, if it doesn't work out,

I've got the best security blanket in the world,

which is Julie Goodwin's pantry.

Obviously getting to top five is a huge achievement.

Last time I was here, I came sixth,

which is where we are at the competition right now.

If I can make it through this elimination,

I'll make it further than I've ever been in this MasterChef kitchen.

I'm going to give it everything today to get through.

I'm making a pork-filled tortellini with a pork broth.

It's going to be, like, a European-looking dish,

but it's going to be Thai-tasting.

I think this dish is a great opportunity for me

to show my European technique with Asian flavours.

It's sort of a foot in both camps.

And if I can get the balance right,

I think I can do something really special with it.

I've tasted the filling for the tortellini.

I'm really happy with the flavour. I think it's subtle but delicious.

Uh, I'm actually starting to really like this pantry.

I think it's not something I'd normally cook with,

but I think it's working.

That dough, mate... That's beautiful.

Oh-ho! Looks incredible, mate.

I'd say I don't know if I can do it better myself, but...

(ALL LAUGH)

They're basically making the same dish.

Yeah.

What could set the two dumplings broth thing apart?

The filling. Yeah. The filling.

And then, like the dough.

Like, if one of them makes a bit thicker...

It'd be filling, dough, broth.

All good there, Cheffy? JAMIE: Going good.

Doing well, mate.

Are you doing your filling now?

Oui.

Now I'm going to mince the pork, a little bit of back fat,

a little bit of the leaner meat,

and then some of the belly.

But we'll just play with it and make sure

that there's enough fat in there to give good texture and flavour.

ANDY: Oh-hoo-hoo! He's a-movin'!

Jame. Jamie. Jamie.

We're moving. How are we doing?

Moving like a proper chef.

I bloody hope so. Righto, then, hit us with that dish.

Yeah. Um, so doing essentially,

um, a little, um,

pork dumpling with an aromatic broth and then...

Ooh!

A very similar dish up the back.

Ben's doing a tortellini... Yep.

..with obviously a spiced pork filling and a broth.

Yep.

Let the games begin.

Anyone would think we're mates or something.

Yeah.

That just puts all the more pressure on you to nail round one.

There's a 50-50 chance that you could be in round two.

100%.

And like, there's another layer with Ben cooking

a very, very similar dish.

Yeah. For sure.

Um, and, you know, at the end of the day...

..playing too much strategy doesn't necessarily get you the win,

but making sure you cook the best, tastiest dish you can

gives you a better chance.

I was gonna say it's really all about that broth.

That needs to be so well-balanced, especially with these flavours.

Absolutely. Yeah, that's the plan.

It is now time to execute, my friend. Attention to detail.

Oui, Chef. Good luck.

Thank you very much.

There is a huge amount of pressure knowing that

I'm not only cooking against the other two,

but I have direct comparison against Ben. (CHUCKLES)

What? Ben. I had a feeling.

One small mistake is going to send one of us into the next round.

It feels like the chances of making it through this round

have gone from one out of four

to one out of two.

We've only got 15 minutes to go.

ANDY: Come on, everybody!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

This is going down to the wire.

Hello. Hi. I'm just a bit hungry.

Don't mind me. Go for it.

Got a lot of elements on the go

and time is flying in this cook.

I'm now moving on to making my roux.

So this is going to be what really thickens my soubise.

Can I take this from you? Of course, Chef. Yeah, please.

Thank you.

Only if you're going to help me, not someone else.

(LAUGHTER)

I know I need to get this done as quickly as possible.

I need to get back onto my chicken.

That's really time-critical.

Oh, that's hot.

Come on.

LAURA: How are the wings, Sarah? Have they come out nicely?

Perfect. Yeah. Yeah?

My chicken wingettes look ready

and now it's time to pop out those bones.

I don't have any time to waste.

These little fingers are like mittens,

and they can handle any heat.

Oh, it's hot.

I'm just trying to push through

and get all of my elements ready for plating.

Um... And, yeah, work through.

Make sure everything tastes absolutely delicious.

Anything can happen.

Things are getting real in round one now.

Only 10 minutes to go.

Where's my whisk, Jean-Christophe?

Oopsie. Sorry, sorry.

The broth has some good flavour to start with,

but we're trying to get

all of these fresh flavours in there now, so.

LAURA: Come on, Jamie. Chop-chop. Yeah.

I know Ben's great at balancing flavours,

and I know that he'll be making that broth perfect.

Got six minutes.

This is MasterChef, innit?

It's got a nice colour. Yeah.

BEN: I've left the broth in the pressure cooker

till the last possible minute.

I've got to add the lime.

I've got to add the fish sauce. I've got to taste, taste, taste.

If I can get this right,

I can save myself from this elimination.

(EXHALES)

There's so much riding on this dish.

It's not just surviving this challenge

and keeping out of round two,

it's also, you know,

getting further than I've ever been before.

So I've never been in the top five on MasterChef.

Just don't want to fall here and go home.

Five minutes to go. Allez! Allez!

I just want to get all the way to the end to prove it to myself,

prove it to my kids, prove it to everyone.

So much on the line here.

This is gonna be hard. It's how they garnish it now.

LAURA: Beautiful, Deeps.

Have you got all your elements where they need to be to plate?

Yeah. I'm going to put the caramel in a jug.

Yep.

I'm just going to take this roti off 'cause it's perfect.

Yep. Well, I think it's perfect.

Yep.

My place in the competition is definitely riding on this dish.

I don't want to be in round two.

Ice-cream's almost churned.

The star of the show is that ice-cream.

I really pushed it today with the ice-cream setting time.

If that's not done, I don't have a dish.

ANDY: Is it setting?

Yeah. It's set.

It's beautiful.

It is so smooth, creamy, perfectly set.

And I could not be happier.

I'm pushing everything today to make it into top five.

I really, I really want to make it into top five.

I can't tell you how much.

POH: One minute to go.

Come on, guys. Let's go!

LAURA: Final touches. CALLUM: Let's go, Jamie. Oh, my God!

Nice, Sarah. Come on, Benny.

DEPINDER: Oh, my God! Hot spoon, hot spoon, Deeps!

Hot spoon.

On the gas. On the gas. On the gas. Let's go, let's go.

Got to go nice and quick. Nice and quick, Deeps.

She's all said and done in 10...

JUDGES: Nine, eight,

seven, six, five,

four, three,

two, one!

That is it!

LAURA: Well done, guys.

Good job. How did you go?

Well. Yeah, alright.

We made the same thing. Funny that.

(BEN LAUGHS)

We gave you two winners' pantries to choose from

and asked you to bring us a winning dish.

You each chose your pantry for different reasons.

Let's see whose reason paid off.

We'd like to taste your dish, Depinder.

DEPINDER: I've definitely been inspired by Nat and her pantry.

I am praying

that they love this roti and curry dessert of mine.

I really, really pushed myself today.

NAT: Oh. Oh, wow.

Oh!

(LAUGHS)

What is the dish, Depinder?

It's a take on roti with curry.

Kind of turning that into a bit of a savoury dessert.

So it's a Thai curry ice-cream

with a roti,

got a chilli caramel on top of the roti,

and there's a little bit of crumb underneath

for the ice-cream to sit on.

Let's see if that's paid off.

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Depinder...

..that was remarkable.

What I love the most is not just the colours,

the textures are impeccable.

You are a natural cook.

ANDY: Depinder, it is magic.

That is probably your best dish of the competition.

Oh, my God.

I think it's all centred around that curry ice-cream,

which when you put shrimp paste in there, I was like,

"This is madness."

But for me, that is the one ingredient

that sends this into another realm.

You've got this amazing way with spices.

I've seen you do it with desserts before.

You're very, very good at knowing how far to push it.

And you pushed this one quite far out.

And what's amazing about it is

I want to demolish the whole lot.

It's not just sort of an interesting flavour.

It is really delicious.

Thank you.

In one hour, to do an ice-cream and a roti is bonkers.

And it's so smooth.

The caramel goes so well with it.

Honestly, I can't fault anything.

And I'm so proud that you've backed yourself up.

Thank you for your ingredients.

Well done. (APPLAUSE)

You alright? Yeah.

Can't even express how relieved I am right now.

I went with my heart and I did what I had to

and it paid off.

And I'm so happy.

Right, we would like to taste your dish, Ben.

So, Ben. What have you made?

BEN: I've made a pork tortellini with a Thai broth.

There's another dumpling-in-broth dish out there.

I didn't know that till afterwards, actually.

So with that new information on board,

still confident?

Yep. I'm happy with this dish, I really am.

Ben, I think this is probably your best broth so far.

The depth, aroma deliver that wonderful flavour.

Your tortellini, perfectly cooked.

A very good dish.

JULIE: Loved the texture of the pasta.

It's really... Had a really good sort of al dente.

And for me, the star of the show was that broth.

So, well done. Thanks, Julie.

The filling was lovely.

I just thought you could have

probably bumped the aromats up a touch.

It very much did go South-East Asian versus European,

whereas I feel like you could have just bridged that gap.

Just a few more aromats in that filling

and we would have had an absolute standout.

Thank you. Nice one, mate.

Good luck, mate.

The next dish we'd like to taste was made by Jamie.

This is probably the most nervous I've been

in the MasterChef kitchen this year.

This feels like it's only a 50-50 shot

if I go into the next round.

Jamie, what's the dish?

JAMIE: So I've made pork dumplings with an aromatic broth,

caviar and finger lime.

I think the dumpling work was amazing.

The dough, like, I loved the chew in it

and just the aromats inside,

you just tastes the gingery-ness.

The heat that comes through is beautiful.

All in all, it's a beautiful dish.

Loved the filling of the dumpling.

I loved how coarse that mince was.

Quite simple, but done really, really well.

It's a really good broth.

Just took it a little bit too acidic.

Balance was just a touch out.

At the last minute,

you probably overdosed the finger lime into your dish.

You should probably not put caviar and just regulate this acidity.

Thanks, mate.

It's Sarah.

I'm feeling really confident with my dish.

There is so much technique and flavour that's gone into it.

I really hope that the judges will absolutely love it.

Sarah, what is it?

So I've made glazed wingettes that I've confited

with potato fondant,

and a leek soubise,

and tarragon oil,

and a little bit of crispy pancetta as well.

I think I pretty much used everything in your pantry.

Wow. Excellent. Yeah.

Well, let's see if your pantry choice paid off.

Sarah, thanks for choosing my pantry.

I'm glad someone did.

Um... God, hat off to you for confiting chicken in an hour.

I was nervous for you.

You did manage to get that cooked.

I really loved the sauce. I thought it was rich and beautiful.

You've absolutely nailed that.

I just think that was a really tasty dish.

Thanks.

What I really love is those chicken wings.

It's just...

This is going to sound dumb.

..chicken.

It is the most robust chicken flavour

that I think you can get.

That absolutely delivered.

With the soubise...

..while I thought the flavour was nice,

it still needs a little bit more cooking out.

The onions are still a little bit under

and you can see on the plate, um,

it's just not emulsified together

'cause they just need to be sweated out for longer.

Thanks, Sarah. Thanks, Sarah.

We gave you a winner's pantry

to repeat history with a winning dish,

and all of you put up something worth celebrating.

But sadly, we're looking for the bottom two today.

So if I call your name,

you're cooking in round two.

Sarah.

Your soubise had some executional flaws.

Jamie.

For most of us, that broth was a touch too acidic.

Depinder, Ben...

..great work. You're safe.

You can join the others on the gantry.

Well done.

Someone from season six... Oh, damn.

..finally going home.

I'm really disappointed to be going into round two.

Even when you're cooking at your best,

it's still maybe not enough.

Jamie. Sarah.

It comes down to you.

We're giving you another 60 minutes.

You can cook absolutely anything,

but you must use the pantry you didn't choose in round one.

So, Jamie, you'll be cooking with Julie's pantry.

Sarah, you'll be cooking with Nat's pantry.

Yeah.

The least impressive dish will send its maker home.

This is stressful.

Your time starts now.

Go! Come on, gang. Go on!

Let's do it, guys.

BEN: This second round is going to be insane.

Jamie has Julie's pantry,

and I know he can cook with all of these ingredients.

LAURA: Let's go, Jamie. Come on, Jamie.

DEPINDER: Let's go, Toddy.

Sarah, on the other hand,

she used that pantry already,

and she's, I think, stuck with Nat's pantry.

It's actually a really challenging pantry.

There's not many vegetables in there.

There's pork belly, which is not easy to cook, in there.

It's a minefield.

It's so hard.

CALLUM: Yeah.

JAMIE: I am nervous.

My heart's racing.

I'm definitely feeling the pressure.

Not only am I fighting for my spot in the competition,

I'm also going up against Sarah,

who's back for their third time.

It's even harder.

BEN: Nice, Jamie.

Jamie! Hello!

You look like you mean business. Yeah, man.

I'm not eager to go home. I'm here to fight for my position.

And I'm lucky that I get to use a whole lot of ingredients

I'm really familiar with

that was put together by yourself, so thank you very much.

What is the dish?

So I'm doing elevated roast chicken.

I've boned out the thighs,

so I'm gonna roast them,

weigh them down over the hibachi,

get some beautiful colour and smoke on them.

So I'm making a little potato and spinach gnocchi.

Oh, nice.

I've got some leek tops in the oven,

which I'm just burning, and I'm going to make a little

essentially like veloute, bechamel, kind of,

just to toss the gnocchi through.

Some leeks in the pan

and then just a delicious pan sauce

with all of the flavour that we've got on offer.

I'm not reinventing the wheel here.

Yeah, you're going with quite traditional flavours.

So I guess this is really about perfection.

That's it. Yeah?

Yeah. I mean, if you read that out on a menu,

tell me you wouldn't order it. That's true.

What do you think, Jules? I think I'd order it.

Are you a gnocchi man? I am a gnocchi man.

Beautiful. Look forward to that.

Good luck, Jamie. Good luck, Jamie.

Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Cheers.

LAURA: Let's go, Toddy.

Oh!

I'm so intrigued as to what's happening here,

which pretty much describes my emotion

every time I watch Sarah cook.

BEN: Yeah.

It's definitely a bit of a setback,

you know, not getting through in the first round,

but, um, I'm here for it in the second.

Now that I've given Nat's pantry a closer look,

the creativity has switched on to the max.

DEPINDER: Beautiful, girl.

I'm definitely going all in.

I am not going to play it safe. I am going to play it Sarah.

LAURA: How are you cooking the pork, Sarah? Three ways.

Oh, cool.

So, I am making an assiette of pork, which is basically pork three ways.

So I'm going to be doing a poached piece of pork belly,

which I'm going to cook down in a pork stock,

I've got a crispy pork skin and I have a pork ham.

I create a mixture of some aromats,

some salt, some sugar, and I instantly cure this pork.

I only want to do a quick cure on this

because I want to poach it.

I want to blast-chill it and slice it really thinly.

I don't know if you can make pork belly into ham

in less than an hour.

I'm biting off a lot in this cook with this assiette of pork,

but I love that there is this risk-taking side

that has really come out,

and I'm going to show the judges just how far I've come

and how far I've grown,

and really show them an incredible dish.

It's a lot to do in 60.

CALLUM: I'm really curious about that pork belly ham.

It's not easy to cook like one cut of pork belly in 60 minutes,

let alone in three different ways.

If one of those ways is incorrect,

it could be, like, a real sticking point.

That's what I think, that if that ham thing doesn't work,

she'll still put it on the plate because she's done it three ways

and that could get her in trouble. Mm.

Time is a-flying! You've only got 45 minutes to go!

Come on, Jamie. Let's go, mate.

Wow. You've been making me jump since 2022.

Sorry! I know, he's very loud, isn't he?

The first round didn't quite go to plan, so that's alright,

got another chance,

which means I just have to go all guns blazing,

do what I normally do, work quickly, get as much done as possible

as quickly as possible.

I've got my chicken all trimmed and ready to be cooked.

Making a chicken jus, a pretty classic kind of sauce.

That's going to be the sauce to finish the dish.

I've got still got my leeks in the oven,

which are going to go into a little sauce

to toss the gnocchi through.

Just working on this gnocchi at the moment.

CALLUM: Because the potato has got to be small,

so it's really important he gets all that water out of that.

Yeah.

Gnocchi is always a tricky one.

But I want to show as much technique and effort on the plate

to keep me in this competition.

This is a classic set of ingredients that need classic attention.

There's nowhere to hide on a dish like this.

It needs to be perfect.

Now that is way too much egg for that amount.

Mm-hm. Did you think that?

'Cause there was already egg in the spinach as well. Yeah.

It's just....he needs to slow down.

We are halfway there. 30 minutes to go!

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

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DEPINDER: That was beautiful, Jamie. Work it, baby.

Just under 30 minutes to go

and everything is on the go at the moment.

So, the pork elements,

we've basically got my ham, which is in the blast chiller.

I'm just bringing up the oil to temperature

to fry off some crispy pork.

I've got my pork, which I'm braising in this liquid at the moment.

It needs a little bit longer.

For my pork belly, what I'm going for is just

this sticky, gelatinous glazed pork.

And this is just going to slowly simmer away

until it's beautiful and tender.

I don't know if that's going to be tender.

And now I move on to my dressing.

This, I want it to be really packed with flavour.

Sweet and sour and salty and savoury.

This dressing is going to be the element

that brings this whole assiette of pork together.

I mean, pork is not an easy protein to cook,

so, um, yeah, I really need to make sure I nail all of these.

It's a lot to pull off in one cook.

Well, we've got two extremely different pantries,

so it makes sense that we have two extremely different dishes.

Sarah is making pork assiette - assiette as in a plate,

a whole plate.

Three ways. Three ways.

In 60 minutes. In 60 minutes.

She's doing a sticky pork, she's making ham,

and then she's also doing a crispy skin.

I mean, doing ham in 60 minutes is crazy.

She's cured it, boiled it,

and she's going to put it in the blast chiller,

then slice it.

But, like, you can't... There's a lot of...

Is that ham? Like... It's not, it's not...

She's inventing a technique because she only has 60 minutes...

..and then she still has two other components

of her assiette to make.

This recipe of Sarah is even harder than the first run...

Oh, 100%. Correct.

..for 60 minutes, that's simple, that's it. 100%, yeah.

What have we got with Jamie?

OK, Jamie, he's going full trad.

So it's like the full other end of the spectrum. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The thing that I'm a bit stressed about

is that if you're going full traditional flavours,

like this classic,

like, every single element has to be perfectly seasoned.

But I feel like he's really rushy at the moment.

He's just moving a bit too fast, I feel.

So, let's do that.

Let's do that.

This dish is all the big, homely, beautiful flavours

that Julie loves,

put on a plate in a slightly different way.

So it's super important

that I get this gnocchi exactly right.

BEN: He's testing a piece.

You alright?

No.

Well, think of how to fix it. Fix it somehow.

You got time. Just have a plan B, bro.

The gnocchi's shit.

The gnocchi's shit. Um, it was floury and crap.

Um, I think I'm just rushing. I made an error.

That's not going on the plate.

LAURA: Oh, no.

DEPINDER: Come on, Jamie, you've got this, mate.

I'm ditching the gnocchi.

If it's not perfect, it doesn't go on the plate.

I'm just looking at my competition going down the drain

because I'm rushing and not paying attention.

(EXHALES)

It's like I'm on a treadmill, and I'm just, like,

getting further and further away, and I'm about to fly off the end,

and I don't know how to regain control.

ANDY: I hope your dishes are coming together!

You've only got 14 minutes to go!

Come on, let's work! Come on, Sarah!

Come on, Jamie! Come on, guys!

Come on, Jamie! Let's go, guys!

You've got time, mate, to fix this. Let's go.

JAMIE: (EXHALES) It's too much. I'm so stressed out.

Just calm down, Jamie.

Oh, look, the plan was to do a little spinach gnocchi,

but I rushed the boiling of the potatoes.

Made the gnocchi, I did a test piece and it was floury and crap,

so it's in the bin.

My plan to beat Sarah today

is an elevated take on roast chicken and vegetables.

So if everything's not absolutely perfect,

I'm going home and I miss out on top five.

(EXHALES)

I need to think of something else.

What do I have left?

Can't really cook decent potatoes in time,

and I've still got this burnt leek cream.

And then I see the celeriac in the pantry ahead

and it clicks.

CALLUM: Let's go, Jamie. Come on, mate. DEPINDER: Come on, Jamie.

Now, I can't help but think of the dish that got me in

when I was first here in series six.

I've done chicken Maryland with a celeriac puree,

some pan-roasted carrots.

You keep cooking food like this,

you won't have to worry about that whole accountancy thing to,

you know, for your daughter, for your family,

because this here is gold.

Thank you.

We're swapping it out from the gnocchi

to a little celeriac puree.

And instead of using

the burnt leek milk to create a bechamel,

we're going to incorporate that all together.

Just make sure everything balances right.

BEN: Good thinking, mate, good thinking. Keep going.

This is now that very dish that started my MasterChef journey -

chicken and celeriac puree.

So, I know that...

I know it's a risk reverting back to the original dish,

but I know the combination is delicious.

I just hope it's enough.

That's it, mate. Bring it home. DEPINDER: Let's go, Jamie.

Jamie's, like, fully changed his dish.

So, he's got a celeriac and burnt leek puree.

JULIE: Oh, God, there's no time.

Nervous because it's not what I set out to do,

and it could be seen as a little bit too simplistic.

And I'm going against someone

who's no doubt doing something a little bit left of centre

and super creative.

So I'm really in my own head about if this dish will be enough

to impress the judges.

Five minutes to go! ANDY: Come on!

BEN: Come on, guys!

(APPLAUSE)

SOFIA: That does look like ham, actually.

NAT: Yeah, it looks so much like ham.

Sarah, that looks like ham. That's crazy. (LAUGHTER)

SARAH: I'm feeling good.

I mean, three different porks on a plate is definitely a big task.

DEPINDER: How you just did that, I can't believe it.

I'm slicing that ham as thinly

as possible.

I want this to just be a beautiful layer

on the base of my plate.

LAURA: Come on, Toddy.

I keep checking on my pork belly and it's still not quite there.

How's it feeling? It needs a little bit longer.

I need to simmer this away till the last second,

even if it is a risk.

I'm not going to put up a dish that's not cooked.

Two minutes to go!

ANDY: Come on! Ooh! Come on!

I am stressed. They have two minutes. Julie? Yeah?

When the last time you got stressed like this?

Last time I was here, mate. I still feel it right here in my gut.

Yeah, I feel it too.

DEPINDER: Keep an eye on your chicken, Jamie. Yeah, thank you.

Come on, Jamie. You got this, mate.

LAURA: Ah, a little glaze. Nice.

BEN: That's it, mate. Bring it home.

This is it! 10...

JUDGES: Nine, eight, seven, six,

five, four, three,

two, one!

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

JAMIE: How did it go? Yeah, good. You?

Huh? (POH GROANS)

I lost my appetite. I know!

Wow!

(EXHALES)

Uh, look...

Um...

I feel pretty...

I feel OK.

Uh, it's not exactly the dish that I wanted to put out.

I'm afraid that this might be seen as too simple,

even though the flavours are there.

Good luck. Thanks.

I'm so proud of this dish.

I've put my heart and soul into it, and I've gone all in.

Here she is. Hey, Sarah.

Hi. POH: Hi, Sarah. Hi.

I just hope that the judges love it

and that it's enough to get me across the line.

Sarah, in round two cook with Nat's pantry,

what did you create?

So I made an assiette of pork. So, three ways.

I've got pork ham, and I've got the braised pork

and a crumble of pork as well,

and a dressing.

Sarah, I think you can be really proud of yourself, no matter what happens.

Yeah. We're going to taste your dish.

Thank you. Thanks, Sarah.

All the best. Thanks.

I think with the ingredients from my pantry,

the sauce was beautifully balanced.

It coats the mouth perfectly and it goes really well

with the fattiness of the pork.

The dressing is the hero for me.

She's got the balance just absolutely dialled.

The sweet end is great.

The saltiness is great, especially when you get it with the caviar.

So well done.

The ham, I was...

The ham was the thing that I was worried about the most.

You don't make ham in 60 minutes. It's, like, it's not a thing!

Um, I think she's got close in texture.

There wasn't a heap of flavour there.

Um, but with that little vinaigrette,

it was almost like the ham was just a textural component.

Um...

When I think of ham, I think of salty,

I think of smoky.

And while the texture of her ham is spot-on,

it just doesn't taste like much.

The pork belly is undercooked.

The pork belly fat is a little bit too dominant

in the portions of what we have.

POH: I can just see her vision and I can see where it can go,

but when you say braised,

I'm thinking falling apart in my mouth, right?

And with a pork belly, if the fat is still crunchy,

it doesn't go down very easily.

Yeah, I'm kind of confused by how to interpret the dish.

All the best. Thank you.

I'm nervous.

There's no doubt in my mind that this is delicious...

..but this is a very, very simple plate of food.

Hey, mate. G'day.

Hi, Jamie. Hi, Jamie.

How are you?

I'm almost 90% sure it's not going to be enough.

Oh!

How was that? Oh, my God.

That was chaos.

Tell us what you made.

So I made a charred chicken

with some pan-roasted and charred leeks,

a celeriac puree,

and a little chicken jus.

It wasn't the dish

that I originally intended on serving,

but I think it still celebrates the pantry that I had.

I hope that that's what I've given you today.

We're going to taste your dish now. Great. Well, enjoy, guys.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Jamie. Thank you.

I think it does nearly everything you were hoping for, right?

Like, the highlight for me is the cook on that chicken.

You know, I love that he's taken that really nice fire on the hibachi.

It's got that beautiful, burned-ish quality about the skin,

which I think is brilliant.

That celeriac puree,

you just get the slightest hint of that burnt leek as well.

It is a diamond.

I think that was in the right proportion,

well seasoned and a bit sweet - perfect.

The leeks are impeccable,

and I like the fact that they melt in your mouth.

Now we go on to the sauce.

Very glossy, seasoned perfectly,

and also a good amount of flavours.

I understand the point of the competition,

but we sort of amp it up and we want to be excited

and we want to see great new techniques,

but I think there's something, um, really intrinsic

about food that comforts and makes you feel warmed up.

That's what I hoped for from my pantry,

and that's what this has brought to me.

I think that this is a masterfully cooked plate of food.

It was truly so special to have the first and last winners

of this competition together in the kitchen,

and we couldn't be prouder of you.

Give it up for Julie Goodwin and Nat Thaipun!

Now, Sarah, Jamie,

unfortunately, we're about to say goodbye to a phenomenal cook.

Each of you was left with opposing pantries

and you produced very different dishes with them.

Sarah - creative and bold.

Jamie - classic and comforting.

One was a delight to eat...

..but sadly for one of you,

it came down to the technical flaws

of a very crucial element - the protein.

Which is why, I'm sorry...

..Sarah, you're going home.

(EXHALES)

Good job.

Sarah, third time back in this kitchen.

We have seen so many sides to you and your cooking.

And I reckon, this time, we got the best of both.

I feel like it's...

There's something really magical about being in this kitchen.

And every single time I step foot into the kitchen,

everything changes

and I feel like I've grown a lot in myself and in my cooking style,

and I definitely have made the most of the experience.

And it's... Yeah, it's been really special.

Yeah.

Sarah...

..it's shocking.

You are so unique

and it's a pleasure watching you cooking.

Every single dishes you came out with were very different.

And I'm telling you something, please do not change.

It's just a bad day in the office.

You are so credible.

Trust me, you are special.

I really admire you.

Thank you, Chef.

Sarah. Ooph!

Really hard to say - it's time to say goodbye.

Yeah. Thank you.

I'm absolutely proud of everything I've done

this time around in the kitchen.

It's been really fun to push myself

and experiment and create the next version of me.

I'm very grateful for MasterChef.

It's given me a really beautiful life.

And I'm excited. I'm excited for what's about to come.

(LAUGHS)

Give it up for Sarah, everybody!

(CHEERING)

ANNOUNCER: This week on MasterChef Australia...

ANDY: You can lift your lids now.

..their very last chance to win immunity...

Surprise! Oh, shit.

..comes with an incredibly tricky mystery box.

JAMIE: This is going to be tough.

I would swap my mystery box with anyone today, but I can't. Argh!

And...

..his culinary wonderland...

ANDY: The mad genius of the South Island -

Vaughan Mabee!

..will be the end

of someone's MasterChef fairytale.

Captions by Red Bee Media