- When you cook the most perfect, mouth-watering crispy skinned pork belly, the last thing you want is for all your hard work to go out the window by cutting it too early! Pork tends to go dry in a heartbeat, according to Gordon Ramsay, so ensure you slice it JUST before you intend on serving it.
- On the flip side, after you cook a piece of lamb, you want to rest it before serving. Gordon suggests basting it with butter and a little thyme prior to slicing. It will turn your dish from good to amazing!
Watch Sarah Tiong create four quick and easy types of South Asian Sauces from one base
- Next time you make a broth, add a herb paste just like you would do a curry. Khanh recommends this tip as a way to infuse more flavour into the dish. Just create the paste with ingredients such as lemongrass, chilli and garlic, cook it down in a wok or pan and then add it to your broth. Delish!
- Parsnip puree is a great addition to any chicken or pork dish, but to get that creamy consistency throughout, always remember to remove the stalk. In the words of Gordon Ramsay "If you're gonna make a puree, there's no chance that it’s going to puree smooth with a stalk in the middle". Yes, chef!
- Cutting a whole fish into the perfect portion seems like a tricky task, and most people would prefer to leave it to the experts. Harry proved you don't have to be a fish monger to master the art of butterflying a delicious coral trout in this handy clip:
- Speaking of fish, want to know the secret to the cooking the perfect fried fish? Ensure the liquid batter encasing the fish is SUPER cold prior to placing it in the oil. This will ensure your batter is crispy and crunchy to perfection, just like Chris'was in Episode 15.
- NEVER discard your crustacean heads after pulling the flesh out of them. We're talking fish, prawns, crabs, lobsters etc - save and add them to your next seafood stock, broth or soup. As Jock exclaimed "they're your ticket to flavour town!"
- Take your next cheese toastie to the NEXT LEVEL by creating a cheese lace. It's super easy, all you need to do is grate a heap of parmesan cheese into a hot pan to caramelise - enough to cover the entire pan. Once the lace starts becoming really crispy, pop your already made toastie in the centre of the lace to stick and get it to a golden colour.
- Ever wanted to make your own ice cream but don't own an ice cream maker? Jock’s got a great alternative below which requires little time and ingredients!
To make a simple ice cream base, whisk 5 egg whites in a stand mixer, and as soon as it starts to change colour, slowly add 125grams of caster sugar and mix for roughly 6 minutes, or until it resembles a meringue with thick peaks. Then, in a separate bowl fitted to the stand mixer, combine 250grams of thickened cream and a generous pinch of salt and whip to soft peaks. Add 5 egg yolks to the whipped cream and fold through, and then add that mixture to the meringue mixture and fold through. Transfer this combined mixture into a deep baking tin, add additional flavours such as caramel, chocolate chips, biscuit crumbs (whatever you fancy) and place in the freezer to set. Watch Jock create a delicious Brown Bread Ice Cream here.
- Take a leaf out of Reynold's book and create fun shapes, such as this tree from the greatest dish ever, Down The Rabbit Hole - by placing tempered chocolate in a small piping bag and piping it into ice cold water in whatever shape you want to create. The chocolate will set instantly and voila!
Want to learn how to temper chocolate? Watch the dessert king Reynold's tips now!
- Andy's hack on squeezing lemon is so genius, we can't believe we never thought of it! Just squeeze your lemon over a lemon grater, which will catch all those pesky seeds from the juice and avoid them falling into your dish.
See how Brendan creates beautiful hand smacked noodles here
- Cooking dumplings for the first time? Hayden shared a tip - that he actually learnt from fellow contestant Brendan - which is to always fry off a bit of your dumpling filling and tasting it prior to assembling, to ensure the seasoning and balance is right. You can always add extra salt or sauce until you’re happy with the taste!
- If you've wanted to try smoking a dish, but don't own a smoke gun, just take a wok and line it with aluminium foil, place all the ingredients in the foil and then cover with a lid to infuse all the flavours together.
- Hosting a long lunch or dinner party and need to remove all those pesky fingerprints from your dishes before serving? Pop a bit of white vinegar on a cloth and simply wipe away!
Find more handy hacks from the judges and contestants over on 10 play, and catch MasterChef 7.30 Sunday - Tuesday on 10 and 10 play.
