FOR the first time ever, the MasterChef culinary competition franchise brings together 15 talented home cooks from eight countries in Asia, including three Filipinos, in its MasterChef Asia edition, which premieres on Lifetime on September 3, 2015, a Thursday, at 9:00 p.m.
These home cooks from across the region come together to test their kitchen skills and measure their level of cooking expertise against each other in the hopes of becoming the first ever MasterChef Asia title. And they include three Filipinos—Jake Aycardo, Lica Ibarra and Rico Amancio—who are carrying the Philippine flag with pride and hope to snag that all-important title. But their competitors from China, India, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are not about to hand them the title without a fight, so the stage is set for a truly explosive culinary battle.
Besides the title, all 15 of them are looking forward to taking home a very attractive prize package that includes his (or her) very own cookbook, a U.S.$50,000 cash prize, U.S. $10,000 worth of leisure experiences in Singapore, U.S.$15,000 worth of Panasonic home appliances, a paid internship at one of Carlton Hotel Singapore’s restaurants, and a one-week stay at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.
Mentoring the contestants and serving as judges on the show are three of the best culinary minds in Asia today—Singapore-based Chef Susur Lee, who is known as the ‘Father of Fusion’; Chef Bruno Ménard, who runs a 3 Michelin-star restaurant in Tokyo; and former MasterChef Australia finalist Audra Morrice, who now owns a successful catering business and is touted to be the next Martha Stewart of Asia.
To drum up interest in MasterChef Asia, the three celebrity judges and A+E Networks Asia movers, including managing director Prem Kemath, recently embarked on an Asian tour, which included a three-day Manila leg. Yesterday (August 24, 2015), at Urbn Bar and Kitchen, Bonifacio Global City, MasterChef Asia was officially launched in the Philippines, graced by the three celebrity judges. The three Filipino contestants made their first public appearance, talked about their own experiences while competing in MasterChef Asia, and then faced off in a ‘Market Basket’ type of culinary competition.
Just like on MasterChef Asia, the three contestants opened a mystery box at their own cooking stations which revealed what ingredients they should be working with. The mystery box contained mangoes, coriander, ginger, calamansi, daikon radish, prawns, coconut milk and tahini. The competition was declared open, and the pressure was on to prepare one delicious dish using the ingredients revealed by the mystery box. They had to do it within 30 minutes.
Did they make the time limit? Yes, all three of them did, and the dishes they turned out earned raves from their celebrity mentor-judges—Daikon Fettuccine with Sautéed Shrimps, Mango Salsa and Thin Daikon Strips for Jake; Butter Coconut Prawns with Egg Floss, Rice Paper Crisps, and Pickled Daikon and Mango Salad for Lica; and Shrimp Balls a la Rico for Rico. After watching them work and utilize a variety of techniques in creating their dishes, the judges tasted the dishes one by one and deliberated among themselves to determine whose dish was most impressive. And the winner was Lica, whose perfectly executed technique of making egg floss blew the judges away.
The friendly competition gave the audience a glimpse of what can be expected in MasterChef Asia.
“MasterChef Asia is unique in the sense that it is the first time that contestants from multiple countries are competing against each other, so you will be getting different flavors, different cultures, working towards one goal. You’ll get to see the journeys of the contestants, the drama in the kitchen, the different levels of skill,” explains Prem Kemath, managing director of A+E Networks Asia, producer of MasterChef Asia.
MasterChef Asia is presented by the Singapore Tourism Board and Knorr, in association with Panasonic, Changi Airport Group, Carlton Hotel Singapore and Air Asia. Lifetime is available on SkyCable Ch 65, Destiny Cable Ch 44 (Analogue) and Ch 65 (Digital), and other select provincial channels.
