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When Khanh Ong was asked if he wanted to join Chefs Ahoy, it was an instant yes.
As a fan of cruises, being given the chance to work in Europe was a no-brainer.
But for the MasterChef Australia star, he tells New Idea it was the chance to redeem himself.
“I think that because I’ve lost MasterChef so many times, I’ve gone onto a show where it’s another competition. I must win this,” he explains.
“I think my luck had to have run out by that point. I’m like, ‘You know the bad luck is gone. I must win.’ So the pressure was definitely there, but I think it was in my own head.”
During the episode, which aired on October 14, Khanh went up against the Three Blue Ducks co-founder, Mark LaBrooy, on the Sun Princess Cruise.
They were tasked with creating a dish that celebrated Barcelona, which was served to 4,000 cruise ship diners, who then voted for their favourite dish.
Although Khanh was determined to win, he admits Mark was relaxed, so he knew he could also have fun. However, he made sure to go around the tables to promote his dish!
For the challenge, he served Mar y Montana (Sea and Mountain); Crispy Pork Belly, Shellfish Saffron Rice, Smoky Red Relish and Shallots.
He admits his dish went through several changes before it was served to the masses.
Initially, he had a sweet and sour Escabeche sauce, but decided to remove it.
“To appeal to the masses, I can’t overthink what I’m doing and make it too cheffy, because sometimes I find that when I go out, I don’t understand what a word is, or I’ve never heard it before. I might not order it,” the MasterChef Australia star explains to us.
In the end, seven votes separated them, and Khanh came out on top!
“So I finally got a win under my belt, so I could not be happier about that!” the social media creator and Vietnamese restaurant owner says to us.
Despite the win, he says another highlight was returning to a commercial kitchen.
“It feels really good working service again, because I haven’t been in a commercial kitchen for a really long time,” he explains.
“It’s currently not what I do, and being in there and having a brigade of the other chefs with you helping you played up sending orders out as they were coming in. That was wild. So, that kind of got my adrenaline going again.”
Despite his confidence boost, the cook, who is also competing in MasterChef Asia, admits he doesn’t plan to return to the cooking show.
“I might be finished,” he concludes. “I think that MasterChef taught me so much; it gave me so much of my career, and I love it to pieces. I’ve come back as a guest judge before; I’ll do that again.”
