Poh’s MasterChef revenge challenge
She has published two successful books, filmed two of her own TV series and has become a household cooking personality but Poh Ling Yeow has admitted she will never shake the habit of thinking like a MasterChef contestant.
As MasterChef Australia is reaching ratings not seen since its early days, series one runner-up Yeow has been invited back to the Ten reality cooking competition series as a guest, devising the ingredients for the mystery-box challenge.
As part of the challenge, which screens on Sunday at 7.30pm, contestants are required to cook a show-stopping dish featuring one of the surprise ingredients.
“I always think it’s going to be really fun as a guest but then I find myself empathising with the contestants and think I’m one of them,” Yeow toldAAA .
“Even with my own mystery-box challenge I kept thinking about what I could do with the ingredients. I can’t snap out of that mode ever.”
With WA still backing two homegrown contestants in the competition, Yeow said she was impressed with their skills in the kitchen.
“It’s funny, contestants that come from further places always pull out such big things,” she said of Perth contenders Sara Oteri and Jessica Arnott.
“I think it’s because they don’t have as much influence from the Eastern States, which is full of huge restaurants.
“I’m really enjoying what they’re doing.”
Aside from television and MasterChef, this year has also seen Yeow slaving away in her own kitchen, creating ice- creams, jams and a number of take-home dishes for her brand Jam Face.
“My life is really chaotic because I have so many facets of my career,” she said with a laugh.
“Writing, TV and running Jam Face is really hard but I’m greedy with life like that so I put up with it.”
But despite being so busy, Masterchef will always remain an integral part of Yeow’s life.
“Even though it’s been six years, whenever I go into the Masterchef kitchen I really yearn for that buzz,” she explained.
“I really wish I could relive those moments again.”
