With the new Foodies vs Faves season of Masterchef about to air, there was one familiar face many viewers were surprised to see missing from the line-up of contestants: Khanh Ong.
WATCH: Get to know Khanh Ong | Survivor: Blood vs Water
Having just completed a stint onSurvivor: Blood vs Water, the conflicting filming schedules meant he probably couldn’t havedone a third run on the showeven if he wanted to.
And, the 27-year-old tellsNow To Loveexclusively, he’s not sure if he did want to return for a third round, after all, he laughs, “how many times do I want to loseMasterchef?”
“With food, it’s all about keeping it simple, stupid.” (Credit: Network 10)
Though he’s not in the running this season, Khanh’s putting his money on faves Michael Weldon or Julie Goodwin to take home the trophy this year.
As for his advice to the foodies – both those on the show and the millions more watching from their kitchens at home – he has a few handy cooking tips to share.
“With food, it’s all about keeping it simple, stupid. That’s how I cook,” he says, adding that learning how to whip up your favourite dish will work out cheaper than ordering from a food delivery service.
Even though you have to spend a bit of cash to stock up on ingredients the first time, Khanh says, “When you’ve got all your spices, you’ve got all of your oils, all your sauces, it becomes really, really affordable.”
Khanh revealed his picks to take out the top spot on MasterChef. (Credit: Network 10)
There’s also no shame in sticking to a budget and buying cheap utensils from Kmart, or going with the more affordable Coles brand spices – so long as you use plenty in your dishes.
“Don’t do one little piece of parsley, or even just a little chop of parsley; load it up because that’s a flavour bump and it looks better as well!”
And if you’ve got a bit of money to invest, use it on important things like knives and kitchen gadgets that can be used in multiple ways to really get some bang for your buck.
One such gadget is the newSodaStream DUO machine, which creates refreshing sparkling water with the touch of a button, perfect for summer cocktails or just drinking straight.
But Khanh reveals there’s a hidden way to use the machine in your cooking too.
“What I like to do with a lot of my sauces, the lighter sauces you yourself with seafood or with vegetables, is you put a dash of the sparkling water into it,” he explains.
“What it does is it lightens the sauce, adding this little spiciness, a little bit of those bubbles make everything fresher.”
He’ll even begifting one to his mum this Mother’s Day, a subtle tribute to the fact that she was the one who first nurtured his love of cooking with her own incredible dishes.
Even now there are some dishes Khanh loves from his childhood but refuses to cook because he knows his mum simply does it better.
Khanh loves to cook for his mum, but admits there’s some recipes he “won’t touch”. (Credit: Instagram)
“There are certain recipes that I won’t touch. I’m just like, mum, you make it,” he laughs, but theMasterchefalum still finds ways to impress her in the kitchen from time to time.
“She still gets so impressed just because I do new takes on old favourites, like things that she may have taught me but I’ve changed it a bit,” he says fondly.
