For the cooking competition fans, most of you is undoubtedly aware that MasterChef Malaysia is now in full swing on Astro in the following time slot:
- Astro Ria (104): Saturday to Wednesday 9 pm
- StarWorld (711): Thursday 9:50pm
- Website: www.astro.com.my/masterchef
For the uninitiated, MasterChef Malaysia is the reality cooking competition that was originally started in the UK and now found its way in dozens of countries. Participants in MasterChef are not professional chefs but everyday people who aspire to venture into culinary industry, or who just really enjoy cooking, people like you and me.
This is the first time we have MasterChef competition it in Malaysia
p/s: there was also a Bloggers’ Masterchef Challenge  where I was involved as a judge *bow*
As of writing, there were only 19 contestants still vying to be the first ever MasterChef Malaysia.
There are several things to like in MasterChef Malaysia as compared to other cooking shows. First and foremost, of course, this contests involves everyday people who are just like you and me, and they are all local.
Secondly, you can also learn a lot from this show. Not only from the recipes that can be found on the website, but also some of the skills you can learn from the skills tests as well. The proper way to separate egg white from egg yolk, the way to dice onions, etc.
Finally, MasterChef exudes a very positive environment where learning is encouraged and there isn’t any showboating or stabbing at the back like you would find in many other reality show. There are even tasks where contestants have to work together in teams to get through to the next round.
To me, this is much better than those ME FIRST attitude that is found in other shows.
Chef Kenny and Chef Johari
My favorite chefs from MasterChef are Chef Kenny and Chef Johari. If you’re old enough, you might remember the Baba and Nyonya show (Big Bibik) on TV from eons ago where Chef Kenny was always in drag. I actually didn’t know that Chef Kenny is a chef until I watched the episod featuring him as a guest chef, what a surprise.
Chef Johari almost always encourages the contestants and basically the polar opposite of personalities like Simon from Ameirican Idol. I think with that’s going on in the world, we can have a little less nasties these days. Furthermore, Chef Johari is the most senior of all chef on the judges panel.
As for my favorite contestant, it’s gotta be Felix Tay, who shares the same home town with me – Penang!
I think the guy has got a really good shot at becoming the very first MasterChef Malaysia, and you can’t fault me for supporting a my own hometown boy who has shown flashes of skills in the MasterChef kitchen.
Which brings us to my favorite dish at MasterChef Malaysia thus far – Felix’s dish in the chili invention test. The judges all loved this dish, and what intrigued me in this dish is the ingredients used -Â guacamole sauce as the bed, fish, and plenty of chili. I’ve never had guacamole with something spicy before and this really looks interesting, don’t you think?
One moment that stood out at MasterChef Malaysia, for me, was the onion challenge in the first round. The situation was very similar to the same challenge that happened in the blogger’s masterchef challenge version – a lot of people accidentally cut their fingers, crying from cutting onions, and then of course, the very first few people who were eliminated at the end of the first episod.
Ultimately, what I want to see from MasteChef Malaysia is how the winner progresses in the culinary field here in Malaysia, will he/she open a restaurant? or have a cooking program on TV? changes entire career path?
And more importantly, will I be invited to have a taste of the winner’s cooking ultimately? 😀
We can only wait, but in the mean time, MasterChef Malaysia is running a facebook contest starting on the 19th of November, 2011. Be sure to take part on https://apps.facebook.com/masterchefmy
There’s weekly prizes of RM 500 and 4GB MasterChef pendrive, and final prizes of iPad, induction cooker, cash, and more! Do check it out.
Good luck!
wah i like the last picture with the onions flowing out
eiling: haha yah, chop till daiiii
to deal with that much of onions. gosh. even peeps like me who cut onions almost everyday also cannot tahan!
Michelle: and I never did like chopping onion, at all. lol.
Don’t like Masterchef Malaysia because Chef Riz is a fake and Astro should have been penalised for posting a fake CV of Chef Riz on the Masterchef website.
Kevin: I believe he did make an apology and subsequently the CV issue has been corrected though.
if there’s any malaccan in the competition, i guess i’d surrender to hometown pride and support that competitor too (at least initially)! 😀
Sean: ALL THE WAY! why initially? hahah.
I always use the bowl and plate method to separate egg yolks as a kid when I used to bake. Crack egg into plate, put bowl over yolk, drain away egg white. Haha.
Works, but isn’t as fancy as that above.
Huai Bin: haha so long as it works I guess, any method is fine.
Hi, I think it’s just really degrading for the contestants to cook Maggi Mee. Seriously? How do you think Gordon Ramsay will react if he finds out we’re using instant noodles as an ingredient???
Not a chef: i think the fascination of maggie mee is uniquely Malaysian, and anyone who’s been away from home (attending college etc) has a fond memory with maggie mee, so why not use it as an ingredient in the competition?
Watching this as much as I could (still prefer the 2 episode/week format that the Americans do), but I’m not that kind of diehard fan.
I have to give the Chinese people props for not sounding so pelat when speaking Malay.
synical: well we are all Malaysians 🙂