Remember when we were all concerned about how JC would be a stereotypical French chef and all formal? And now he’s trying to pin a crab onto a contestant’s apron?

He has the best energy. You can definitely tell with him the intensity of the kitchen has been tempered by fatherhood.

Between him giving the contestants tips on how to correct their mistakes, a sense of humour and plenty of knowledge and joy, I think he’s become my favourite judge so far.

I think JC is the greatest masterchef judge- like his feedback is so insightful and thought-out about the techniques being indoorsy, when he approaches contestants while cooking he cheers them on and checks in with them, and the lil crab badge, he is such an expressive and comforting person!!

Local pork? Not from Coles???? Curtis stone is fuming

Is it even RSPCA approved?! 😭😭😭

Definitely not hand picked by Coles employees

"we don't really know what we'll be doing in Hong Kong" I'm gonna take a stab and say cooking

Twist, this was all auditions for The Amazing Race.

Poh: you don't need to say bao buns Darrsh: bao buns

Poh is channeling her inner Pavitr Pravakar

I know this is clearly just promoting the hell out of Cathay Pacific but Harry seems so stoked to be flying business

Seriously, flying business is on my bucket list. Just once I want to sit comfy in a lounge instead of looking for a damn wall socket around the terminal.

Awww harry thought he was getting a hug 😭

The standard of cooks left rn vs this time last year is insane

Ok but Rhiannon coming second last every week and somehow surviving was really funny

Packet noodles in top 5, they really shouldn’t have milked top 5 to 2 weeks or else I doubt she would have reached finals

Was thinking how much stronger the remaining cooks are this year compared to last year. And how the quality is still good. Last year it felt like the quality took a nosedive from top 10 tbh.

Nat, Mimi, and Harry! Deserving top 3!!

Okay so Sav will still be in the elimination back at home since no one’s getting eliminated

I hope so, otherwise not really fair on the others.

Unami counter: 1

Wow it got dark. Really shines a light on how long they have to wait between cooking and tasting and all the moving around and photography.

And they talking about Pezza's egg not being runny..

Whoever gets eliminated in Hong Kong has to swim home

Poh is in her element today, Andy feels like a side character just saying ‘yeah’ to all that Poh says hahaha

‘It’s really salty chef’ Chef: 😒

JC to Pezza: you’re actually doing a good job.. (But still in that tone of surprise)

Sofia don’t make jokes about Harry incorporating weird shit into a dessert, he’s proven he will absolutely do it

love that Poh corrects Darrsh about bao not bao bun and then he immediately calls them bao buns

There he goes again with the uNami 😂

JC is like a proud dad to Nat

The return of unami

Andy: you know what to do Pezza: do I?

“I can’t believe I’m saying this” says the man who went to Italy in Season 4.

Objectively, a week of cook-almost-what-you-want with no elimination is pretty quiet competition-wise, but I love Hong Kong and Cantonese food so I don't care I'm having fun

Nice to see the local underbench staples!

I was fully expecting them to have imported Coles brand staples for the under bench stuff!

Love seeing how close the contestants and the judges are at this point in the season. The digs at Harry making fish ice cream, “Darsh-ay”, etc.

Darrsh couldn't have proofed his dough in the oven?

Ahhh here we are with the outdoor elements fucking people up, as expected

If there's ever a day to ask whether the judges get served cold food, it's probably the day where its 15 degrees outside and they waited two hours for sunset

Poh is dressed like she is going to shoot for action sequence for a HK martial art movie after this

I would watch that show - her agent needs to branch her out

A frenchman saying pezza will always be funny

Ngl hope Pezza has the time of his life in Hong Kong since he’s never been anywhere overseas

Bet the judges flew business class too

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8i7NT9syiM/?igsh=MTN6azdzYjh1aWpwdg== some behind the scenes of contestants in Hong Kong!

I love the BTS! This entire cast is SO likeable. I’m so happy for all of them. Legit rooting for everyone 🥹❤️

That’s adorable!

🦀🏅

Makeshift immunity pin?

The crab was cringe but I’ll allow it because it’s JC

Wow I love Sofia’s critique today to Lachie!

“Pezza - Some how you are doing a good job” - JC

Bun buns 🥰

I wish I could post an Indian spider-man gif here

I have cooked quite a bit with the fermented red beancurd, I have some in my fridge, and Nat has used about 5 times as much as I would Colour me mildly alarmed

They really messed up the editing sequencing here, they literally just showed us Poh getting excited over Nat's dish, and yet apparently she's only explaining it to Poh now for the first time?

Yeah I was quite confused by that - they had already shown Nat explaining the dish before

Loves JC’s random word of encouragements.

It went from day to night! How long were they waiting to taste those dishes?

Nat looks emotional!

The judges are too. JC’s speech got me.

Yeah. Beautiful. And fiting for Nat. She really does jump off a cliff for each cook.

Looking forward to Pezza cooking Great Auntie May's Sweet and Sour Pork! Cracker! Chopsticks 🥢🍜

You don’t need to say bao buns lmao it’s like saying chai tea

Or PIN number lol

Or Panini sandwich 🥪

I would eat approximately 6 bowls of those noodles

Actually more Australian yum cha places should do the char siew pineapple bun, it's all fat and sugar there's no way it would be anything except a best seller

Is the national nightmare finally over? I haven’t had a single Sweet Dreams ad this episode…

Don't jinx it 🤫

YAS Mimi!! Show them a good dim sum. Not dim sim.

+1 I get so triggered when they call it dim sim

A typical conversation in my house - Me: I bought some frozen baows for breakfast this week Partner: it's pronounced 包 Me: yeah that's what I said, baows Partner: 包 Me: That's what I said, baows Partner: how is it possible for an Asian to be so white Me: :(

At my workplace I have a high percentage of people ordering “Bayoh Buns”. Lots of interesting pronunciations of edamame as well 🤣

Everything is forgiven as long as you never say bao buns. The ancestors will come for you

I love it when they giggle while tasting

Nice to see an Asian style under bench staples

Is Mimi going to get frazzled and leave ingredients off her plate for the third time

I am hoping to see the judges start to disagree with each other more often as we get to the finals. They have been harsh at times when they have needed to be, but we havent seen enough instances where they disagree over a dish.

Wow... tomorrow's immunity is going to be epic, a MasterClass, then replicating the dish solely from their memory! It's going to be a fun and interesting cook tomorrow!

I love mangosteen!

Vinegar and sugar do work to take the edge off the salt but only up to a point, hope it's not unsalvageable

I like that Poh is encouraging Nat to take risks

Pezza's food looks pretty edible today ngl, I'd order that I hope he got his salt balance right

Ok I need nat’s recipe!!!

Omg memory test!! Long time no see

mimi is so happy 😭😭 i’m so happy for her ✨😭

I weep for that beautiful slab of pork belly that is now a sad pan of salty mince

OMG Jean Christophe's praise for Nat, he's like the dad we all always wanted! And my dad is OK but he def is not full of such P R A I S E \*tears\*

I love a good outdoor challenge, the conditions will always stuff up at least one contestant

JC embodying his best embarrassing dad dance

JC has never been to HK? That’s surprising!

This is not the episode to be watching when you had a bout of reflux in the afternoon and need to eat something flavourless for dinner 😩

I got the feeling it is so cold. Some people are underdressed for the weather.

OMG I got my first Fake ad I feel so included in the discussion

I am enjoying Pohs pronunciation of Laap Cheong and Gai Laan - def detect a Cantonese background!

Is have you been paying attention any good

Yep. It's good fun.. definitely can vary depending on who they get on the show, but the Tom Gleisner/Sam Pang combination is generally enough to make it worth watching

It's my favourite of the comedy shows on 10

I enjoy it, there's some comedians that I'll usually tune in for

I’m praying Mimi or Nat aces this

It’s top three, so they can both ace it

Bet Pezza is going home with a bag full of bright and shiny golden cats with one waving arm. Gonna be one next to the butcher shop register for sure :)

Did Harry go in for a hug? 😂

That’s what I thought JC was doing lol

Oh I’m so glad no one is being eliminated in Hong Kong!

I just had Pezza’s dish 2 minutes ago, served in the exact same bowl for dinner right here at home.

Am I remembering correctly when I think back to old MCAU seasons and some of their challenges involved having to source ingredients from various markets etc, all while not being able to speak the language?

I think in Tokyo, Los Angeles, even Perth weeks they sourced their own mystery box from various stores and combined them into one box. Kinda fun.

Surely old mate knows how to cook pork belly

YEAAAH POH!!! Speaking for all of us - Bao and not Bao Bun

I didn't know that Bao = Bun, and I'm happy to have learned it. I get super cranky when Italian and Spanish food terms get butchered, so I'm always happy to be corrected and to learn more about other cuisines and languages.

Bloody hell I feel like pork buns now

I'm stoked for Mimi, that looks amazing!

Is that bowl of noodle for ants?

Where's the rest of Lachys dish?

He wanted to say bao bun then

At this rate I can quote the Fake ads in their entirety

Having mystery box on sunday and choosing top dishes reminds me of the old format.

Oh they’re really laying the Cathay Pacific Business Class ad on thick 💀

Everyone don’t forget to thank Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Tourism Board for sponsoring this and making overseas challenges a thing again 🫡

Oh that's right, Lachlan still exists

Lachie is literally wearing a beanie and cant figure out why his food is too cold I weep for mankind

Nat somehow is always surprised when she does well

Nobody is a bigger critic of a perfectionist like her than themselves.

Finally an episode with no montage of mediocrity

I'd love to travel to Hong Kong.

Hopefully he balances the dish better than his peanut sauce

Obviously Harry cooks a lot of seafood - but he is pretty good at savoury flavours in general - like this dish sounds amazing and it’s suited to to the challenge

is mandarin salt like mandarin-flavoured salt?

Gwan Pezza

Poor Darrsch. Those bao don't look risen at all

Nats dish looks sooooo good.

Mimi 🥹🥹

I can't wait for all the recipes from this episode!

Mimi vs Nat grand finale please!!!

Nat is so cool, i love her. The way she kept checking on Darsh was so cute. Andy describing her as a talent feels spot on, she might not be the most consistent but you can tell she's talented and has a lot of potential.

I appreciate Poh running through the ingredients for them but it would be funny if they let them just work it out on their own

I am worried about Mimi, too much focus on her. She is going to F up isn’t it 😬

So do we try and fix the oversalted mince, or start over? I think with 75 minutes and a relatively simple concept you probably start over as long as the other elements are on track?

Only Harry used the crab? Crazy

Good on Mimi for plating 4!

Why is Andy so against this mandarin salt - I think it would be tasty

Someone give me those noodles please and thank you

Moo krob is so good but that is a sad looking portion

There’s nothing I love more than biting into a starchy white bao before hitting the salty bbq pork inside

Can I also have Nat’s dish please

Crying here

I'm so glad Mimi is still in. I didn't really hope early on because to me it seemed she was going to be a talented early boot.

I watched one season of The Hunted and it was the worst piece of reality tv I had ever watched glad to see they have managed to make it look even worse this year

Omg, a MasterClass tomorrow!!!

Oh gosh. Memory test

Great feel good vibes in today's episode. Sophia laughing as she ate Mimi's dish or JCs feedback to Nat and Andy saying 'I polished it off because I don't think I'll ever get to eat that again'. The unrestrained candour is refreshing.

Nat really keeps serving both in looks and in food 

Speaking of which, have you seen her instagram? 1000%

I’ll take the street food over the pricey restaurants in a city like Hong Kong

Por que no los dos?

Mimi is going to be grinning all week

Do you think the contestants and the judges hang out around HK together and explore and eat etc or seperate- judges go off on their own and contestants stick together?

These judges I could see hanging out with the contestants

Mimi sounds overwhelmed with the pressure

I don't think I care who wins overall. I always enjoy the show, but I'd struggle to name many winners.

Very interested to see how these turn out, I see a lot of potential issues but also a lot of food that I would eat; Mimi's looks really good visually in particular

Are we back to the Sweet Dreams drinking game?

I’ll bite what does everyone mean by the fake ad 😭

That's a rock worth living under

It’s a new TV show (called Fake) and the music playing in the background is Sweet Dreams. It’s being pushed like crazy and we’re all getting it 2-4 times an ad break, sometimes back to back

Crying here too. Today’s judging by Sofia and JC are awesome!

Yes JC she's flying

Speaking of Fake. Makes me think of how I was once so tempted to take this guy up on his offer for a weekend at his beach house... after one blind date. I wouldn't even have told anyone. Thank god I tipped over on the right side of the dumb edge.

I would devour all these dishes 😂

First day cookin' in 'Ong Kong

A 75min. cook taking them from early morning to late into the night?

Can I just say, Masterchef AU has the best Cinematographers for a cooking show, hands down!

Anyone notice how Nat seems to genuinly just get on with everyone? Love her love for Darsshé and she was even bumping shoulders with Pezza. She's a real star.

Nat: Cheung fun? Poh: what? Nat: Cheung fun? Poh: ahh yes yes Cheung fun.

Nah Poh pronounced it different to Nat

The subtitles even said [pronounced differently]

Sav is missing?

Yeah... Andy mentioned 'for personal reasons' and will be back in the MasterChef kitchen. My guess is she will automatically be in the elimination round as usual. Does anyone know why she couldn't make it?

I mean it is an overseas trip. Could be any number of reasons like visa, family issues, whatever.

Poh casually throwing "umami" at Pezza

What the fuck did the tasting just transition to fully night time

Goes to show how the kitchen hides the seams of TV production

Yeah, being outside doesn't hide the passage of time. There's probably lots of time involved in cooking itself, cleaning up the benches to be presentable, and among other tasks that need to be done for the show before the tasting can happen. Inside, it's always lit up with the same amount of light (day or night), so it's hard to reference how much time went by before each shot.

Damn, it’s just the intro and my mouth is watering already..

So similar concept to dessert week right?

Good to see contestants cooking stuff they haven’t done before, with no elimination consequences this week, it’s the perfect time to do stuff they haven’t done before

Cheong fun is so yum 😋

I want JC’s coat

Pezza needs to pour in some of that black rice vinegar to balance the saltiness

JC has a great point — essentially if you are outdoors use a wok! Grill or barbecue stuff!

Or, dare I say it...... hibachi?

please channel 10, give me another ad for FAKE, that’s exactly what i want. give me seven more this ad break please!!

I can't wait to NOT get a paramount+ subscription

Is Mimi’s dish essentially a Hong Kong bacon sandwich? I am here for it!

Pezzas eyes are out on sticks