MasterChef favourite Poh Ling Yeow says goodbye in heartbreaking elimination
MasterChef favourite Poh Ling Yeow has been eliminated from the cooking competition in a two-round challenge set with guest judge Phil Wood.
Poh – who came second to Julie Goodwin in MasterChef’s first season in 2009 – failed to place top five in this year’s Back to Win season.
The Sunday night episode kicked off with a challenge to replicate Wood’s potato duchess with shiitake mushrooms and cauliflower.
Poh’s poor performance in round one landed her in the bottom three along with fellow contestants Callum Hann and Reece Hignell.
The three had another face-off in round two, where they were asked to make a new dish out of one or more key ingredients from Wood’s dish.
Poh decided to recreate a ‘redemption’ dish that she failed in a previous cook – culurgiones, a Sardinian potato-stuffed pasta. However, she failed to manage her time and had to abandon her planned burnt butter emulsion last minute.
The prettiest culurgiones we've ever seen 🧡 #MasterChefAU pic.twitter.com/xW7M8cJGFc
— masterchefau (@masterchefau) July 5, 2020
“I think I met the brief, I featured potato, but I’ve also got a very distinct feeling that I haven’t chosen the right dish to do. I just don’t feel satisfied and for me that’s my gut telling me it hasn’t been the right decision,” she told the judges while presenting her food.
The judges said they found the pasta was undercooked and the sauce was not satisfactory.
During her elimination, judge Melissa Leong described Poh as a “national treasure”.
“Every day we could be guaranteed we would get all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your love and all of your commitment,” Melissa said.
“You have been part of the MasterChef Australia family since day one and it has been the greatest privilege to have you back in this kitchen and cooking with us.”
We're so sad to say farewell to Aunty Poh 😢 We'll miss you! #MasterChefAU pic.twitter.com/42ZbkwMQhz
— masterchefau (@masterchefau) July 5, 2020
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Poh said her return to the show was worth it. “I feel like I’m such an established brand, I really was there for my own journey as well, just to see how much I’ve grown and how I’d fare against such a stellar group of cooks,” she said.
“I got absolutely everything I wanted out of it, I just wish I had a few more cooks under my sleeve – it wasn’t even about the finale – I just wanted to show off a few more dishes.”
After the program, Poh will be focusing on her weekly JamFace stall at Wayville’s Adelaide Farmers’ Market as well as her work with homeware brand Mozi, The Advertiser reported.