Masterchef Singapore Recaps!!!

TLDR: Pan Fried Seabass, Not Enough Salt, But Lots of Tears, Don't serve white rice on Masterchef The Cast The heroes from Episode 1 are joined by the other finalists we haven't gotten to meet yet: there's Danial, son of none other than DIANA QUEEN OF THE HOME COOKS from Season 1, who together with the other sambal queens turned out plate after plate of assured, beautiful modern Malay dishes. Then there's Vasun who's sassy, sharp, and wants to open a "modern thosai cafe," which, excuse me yes. Then there's Ganesh, a former SAF man who is also all about the spice or, as Bjorn kind of problematically puts it: "big boy big flavours," which, I dunno, Bjorn, big mouth bad jokes? The cast is rounded up with Zephyr and Melissa who don't seem at all uninteresting but might as well not have been on this episode (sorry ladies, I'm sure your moment will come in the next one, if the producers allow). Round One: Mystery Box ! The first challenge t...

CW: This is going to be very TLDR so you might wanna settle down with a caramel prawn baked rice puff pastry (if you know, you know). Welcome Back!!! BAM! Everyone! We're back! It's Masterchef Singapore Season 2! After almost two years, it's still the only reason to watch Channel 5. I can't even say I'm fully recovered from Season 1, what with its ups and downs, lovable contestants, as well as uncomfortably sweaty re-enactments of colonial energies. In summary for those of you joining MasterChef Singapore for the very first time, Season 1 got off to a really great start with its foregrounding of Singaporean and regional cuisines. This was mostly thanks to a line-up of incredible contestants who really brought the sambal from the get go. Among them were Kakak OGL Shams for the Win in the end Never Win, Sharon Gonzago with the Good Hair, and Diana Queen of the Home Cooks. Midway, the show kind of fell off the horse a little bit when suddenly "elevation" b...

Spoiler alert/TLDR: HURH?/IDGAF/What Would Shams Have Done (WWSHD)/ Ugh Pasta/ Radioactive Ondeh Ondeh Laosai *corrected szechuan to Sichuan == Now that all the spice queens have left the show, one wonders if there is any point watching this grand finale. One rolls this question around in one's mouth, and a weird flavour spreads around the palate. By episode's end, the question really is: what would we as a nation be proud to call a feast? But let's put aside these ruminations for now, because there's some Masterchef to watch! Gen and Zander are our top 2 finalists. Here's a little capsule review of each of them for those of you joining this recap series at stupid o'clock. Gen is basically an Elevated Creative Cuisine Queen. In restaurant terms you're thinking sit-down establishment with $20 sharing plates, craft cocktails, better yet beers, light Mumford & Sons soundtrack, and swish mod-industrial touches in the decor suggesting casual upmarket, but wit...

It's dark times in the Masterchef Singapore Kitchen as all light and brightness have been evicted along with Sharon's hair, and with that my hopes and dreams of an all-female final 3. But we have to push on in spite of dark times, this is the inherent wisdom of our moment in history.  We're BACK in the now kind of spookily too-big competition hall. This calls for a brief pause to consider the ambitions and talents that once came to life in this zhenged-up home econs classroom. Let's at this point remember such characters as Diana Queen of the Home Cooks, Auntie Nicholas of the Kingdom of Pomenagrates (sic), SWTGH of the Nasi Ulam Istimewa, recently evicted; Sowmiya of the Vegetarians forced to work with sweetbreads to show the judges versatility, Joshua and Vidhya the two kickass Indian cooks who were eliminated together during the #Chineseprivilege challenge, and Aaron Wong who? (jk, Aaron Wong Prince of Tuiles).  Anyway, everyone's feeling very limber after yester...