It was the beginning of the end for Jimmy Wong when renowned pastry chef Steven He from Le Yeahllow walked into the MasterChef Australia kitchen with a cloched dish. Underneath was one of the most complex dessert dishes we’ve ever seen in the competition, which is no surprise considering Steven is a two-time world pastry competition winner.
Returning a second time to the MasterChef kitchen wasn’t a difficult choice for Jimmy.
“I had to prove something… to myself,” Jimmy told us in an interview. “That following a food dream and pursuing your passion was worth it. Coming back was a way to celebrate all the incredible things that I have experienced in the food world over the last few years,” he said.
But it wasn’t always smooth sailing and he admitted that there were moments in his career when he almost gave up.
“A private piece of advice I got from Poh, at a time I just felt like giving up on pursuing my love of food, was ‘keep doing what you love because cream always rises to the top.’ I will never forget this.”
That very piece of advice encouraged him to see the innocent-looking balloon puppy dessert through. While it looked cute and hyper-realistic, it was extremely complex to pull off, with layers of chocolate, sour cherry, and a whipped ganache infused with English breakfast tea. But it was the tempered white chocolate on top, shaped into the copper-coloured balloon puppy, that sent him home.
Melting mess
Jimmy began the pressure test with the intention to be methodical and calm. But that hope was short-lived when he realised he needed to remake the sour cherry compote.
In our interview with Jimmy, he shared the three key moments that took his cook downhill.
“Not reading the recipes correctly and losing time,” he said. “[In hindsight] I would read the method first, then the ingredients. The melted chocolate shells were way too thin and melted in my hands when I tried to assemble them, [so next time I’d] make sure those chocolate shells were thick enough so they had enough structure to make the balloon puppy.”
Despite having a few moments of trouble, there was also so much to be proud of.
“[I pushed] my limits when all I wanted to do was just to give up, and I finally tempered my first batch of white chocolate,” he said, before adding, “I can make a gorgeous chocolate sponge.”
3 top moments on MasterChef
“When I cooked a dish which was an ode to all the farmers and Providores that I have met over the years, called Toothtisse, and the challenge where I was able to dedicate the dish to my mother with an Asian scampi salad. Lastly, the incredible MasterChef family I gained this season!”
Jimmy’s go-to dinner recipe
The dish Jimmy turns to when he doesn’t feel like cooking is a “teriyaki chicken don buri. This dish looks like it takes a lot of time, but I can do it with my eyes closed in no time flat.”
What’s next for Jimmy?
There are a few exciting things in the pipeline for Jimmy now that his time in the MasterChef kitchen has come to an end.
“I’m in pursuit of the rich stories behind food, from the growers, farmers, Providores, and chefs I meet,” he shared. “May sharing these stories through my photography, cooking, and content creation long continue!”
