I love cooking shows because it is probably the only non kids show I can actually watch with my kids. Do you know that kids actually love cooking too? Every evening while having our dinner, my boy and I will watch Masterchef Australia Season 5 showing only on Lifetime, Astro Channel 709, weekdays at 7pm and 11pm. We might be eating a plain simple meal but watching other people creating lavish dishes kind of make our dishes taste amazing as well, seriously.
Last night, we were watching Episode 36 titled Identical Twins. Now I’ve watched a lot of cook off shows but this one is just full of adrenaline rush and the parcipants are always given the toughest, craziest challenge the producers could think of. In this episode, the contestants must work in pairs to make the same dish where each dish must be identical in taste and appearance. The twist: they will not be able to see or taste their partner’s dish. The contestants get a short time to discuss and decide what they want to cook, as usual, there are a few disagreements about who is in control and who’s recipe to use. Then they get only one time in the pantry to pick up their ingredients. At the cooking table, they are placed back to back from their partners separated by a pretty thick shelf so they can’t see each other. Throughout their cooking, they have to shout at each other over the top of the shelf to communicate so you can just imagine how crazy it would have been, chaotic in fact. For most people, we’d think it’s impossible for anyone to get it right, identical in appearance and taste, that’s crazy, so crazy that even the 3 judges didn’t have high expectations.
So the surprising part is that at the end of this episode, majority of the dishes came out identical and similar to taste. Only maybe a couple of them didn’t get it. I find that the participants are pretty amazing to remain calm while cooking an amazing dish at the same time. Kudos to the participants!
By the way, besides just having fun and being entertained watching Masterchef Australia, did you know that you can submit your very own cooking tip and get a chance for your tip to be featured on Lifetime? You must have seen the advert while watching Masterchef Australia had you been well, watching it all these while. Of course, you must give your most creative and original tip to get some airtime. All you need to do is go to the Lifetime Malaysia Facebook page and post your tip there with a hashtag #MCATipOff. Check out the many tips already posted on the Facebook page that you might find interesting to apply to your own cooking. This Cooking Tip-Off challenge is actually open to every Malaysian who is a fan of MasterChef Australia.
So what’s my cooking tip?
My cooking tip is short and simple, like a tip should be.
Pomfret is my very favourite dish that is enjoyed usually during special occasions like Chinese New Year Eve’s dinner. Sometimes the pomfret can be very large and we have a tendency to just snip off the tail and fin in order to fit it into the wok or steamer for steamer. I found out a couple of years ago from my in laws that the tail of the pomfret should never be snipped off if you want to maintain the sweetness of the fish. Snipping it off and then steaming it will make it lose its original sweet flavour. Those who enjoy this fish will know that the pomfret is a very sweet fish that you can enjoy even without marinating or adding any other flavours as the meat has an amazing taste and texture that is not fishy but sweet. So there you go, my very very simple tip that could make your next fish cooking meal better without even changing your recipe.
Don’t forget to catch Masterchef Australia Season 5 and also check out the Facebook page of Lifetime Malaysia for more extraordinary tips from the ordinary cooks in Malaysian homes.
I love this show!