3 September (2015-09-03) – 10 December 2015 (2015-12-10)
MasterChef Asia is a regional competitive cooking game show based on the original British show MasterChef. The show is produced by Lifetime Asia. A total of 15 home cooks from various regions across Asia (China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam) competed in the first season of MasterChef Asia. The show is judged by Hong Kong-born, culinary chef Susur Lee; 3-Michelin starred chef Bruno Ménard; and Singapore-born Audra Morrice, a MasterChef Australia finalist. From the MasterChef kitchen to off-site and overseas challenges, the 15 episodes will culminate in one home-cook winning the title of the first ever MasterChef Asia.[1]
Guest Chefs
Chef Eric Teo, Chef Patron/Owner of ET Culinary Arts (1 October 2015)
Chef Justin Quek, Chef Patron/Owner of Sky On 57 in Singapore (10 December 2015, Season Finale)
Chef Bjorn Shen, Author, Chef Patron/Owner of Artichoke in Singapore (10 December 2015, Season Finale)
Chef David Pynt, Chef of Burnt Ends in Singapore (10 December 2015, Season Finale)
Chef May Chow, Chef Patron/Owner of Little Bao in Hongkong (10 December 2015, Season Finale)
Contestants
Contestants
Age
Country
Occupations
Status
Winnings
Woo Wai Leong
27
Singapore
Lawyer
Winner 10 December
5
Marcus Low
24
Malaysia
Banker
Runner-Up 10 December
7
Jasbir Kaur
54
Malaysia
Homemaker
Eliminated 3 December
4
Priya Barve
39
India
Marketing Manager
Eliminated 26 November
5
Doan Phuong Ha
31
Vietnam
Entrepreneur
Eliminated 19 November
5
Lennard Yeong
27
Singapore
Engineer
Eliminated 12 November
5
Blanche Chu
28
Taiwan
Model
Eliminated 5 November
2
Sandrian Tan
41
Singapore
Homemaker
Eliminated 29 October
2
Lica Ibarra
29
Philippines
Finance Sales Officer
Eliminated 22 October
1
Vonny Lestari
20
Indonesia
Student
Eliminated 8 October
0
Rico Amancio
31
Philippines
Paralegal
Eliminated 1 October
1
Alice Peng
32
China
Scientist
Eliminated 24 September
0
Stefan Pratama
25
Indonesia
Sales Representative
Eliminated 17 September
0
Jake Aycardo
24
Philippines
Analyst
Eliminated 10 September
0
Sophia Zulkifli
30
Malaysia
Homemaker
Eliminated 3 September
0
Elimination table
Place
Contestant
Episode
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
1
Leong
IN
WIN
HIGH
IN
IN
IN
WIN
IN
LOW
HIGH
WIN
LOW
IN
LOW
IN
WIN
WINNER
2
Marcus
IN
WIN
WIN
WIN
IN
IN
WIN
IN
WIN
IN
HIGH
WIN
LOW
IN
WIN
IN
RUNNER-UP
3
Jasbir
HIGH
WIN
IN
HIGH
IN
IN
WIN
LOW
WIN
HIGH
IN
WIN
LOW
HIGH
IN
ELIM
4
Priya
IN
WIN
HIGH
IN
WIN
LOW
WIN
LOW
IN
IN
IN
WIN
HIGH
WIN
ELIM
5
Ha
HIGH
WIN
IN
IN
LOW
HIGH
WIN
WIN
IN
WIN
LOW
LOW
WIN
ELIM
6
Lennard
WIN
WIN
IN
LOW
WIN
HIGH
WIN
HIGH
WIN
LOW
LOW
ELIM
7
Blanche
IN
LOW
IN
IN
WIN
WIN
PT
LOW
LOW
LOW
ELIM
8
Sandrian
IN
WIN
IN
IN
IN
IN
WIN
IN
IN
ELIM
9
Lica
IN
LOW
IN
HIGH
LOW
LOW
WIN
HIGH
ELIM
10
Vonny
IN
LOW
IN
IN
LOW
IN
ELIM
11
Rico
LOW
LOW
IN
LOW
WIN
ELIM
12
Alice
IN
LOW
IN
IN
ELIM
13
Stefan
IN
LOW
IN
ELIM
14
Jake
LOW
ELIM
15
Sophia
ELIM
(WINNER) This cook won the competition.
(RUNNER-UP) This cook received second place in the competition.
(WIN) The cook won the individual challenge (Mystery Box Challenge or Invention Test) and received an advantage in the next challenge.
(WIN) The cook was on the winning team in the Offsite Challenge and was safe.
(LOW) The cook was on the losing team in the Offsite Challenge and was not safe.
(IN) The cook was not selected as a top entry or bottom entry in a Offsite Team Challenge.
(HIGH) The cook was one of the top entries in the individual challenge, but did not win.
(IN) The cook was not selected as a top entry or bottom entry in the challenge.
(IMM) The cook did not have to compete in that round of the competition and was safe from elimination.
(LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, but was not the last person to advance.
(LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, and was the last person to advance.
(PT) The cook was on the losing team in the Team/Pair Challenge, competed in the Pressure Test, and advanced.
(NPT) The cook was on the losing team in the Team/Pair Challenge, but was exempted from the Pressure Test.
(ELIM) The cook was eliminated from MasterChef.
Episodes
No. in season
Title
Original air date
Asian viewers (millions)
1
"Show Us Who You Are"
3 September 2015 (2015-09-03)
2.14
MasterChef Asia begins with the arrival of 15 of the best home cooks in the region who will begin a 15-week journey full of drama and excitement under the guidance of our three world class judges. The contestants’ first challenge involved cooking a dish to tell the judges who they are.
2
"Food on the Fly"
10 September 2015 (2015-09-10)
N/A
In the first offsite challenge the remaining 14 contestants are divided in two teams to serve five different types of canapés to 80 VIP guests on Asia’s largest observation platform - the Singapore Flyer.
3
"Quintessentially MasterChef"
17 September 2015 (2015-09-17)
N/A
13 remaining contestants are tasked with two challenges - Mystery Box and the Invention Test. In the mystery box challenge, nine ingredients were on offer and the contestants must make a sweet or savory dish featuring at least one of the ingredients. For the Invention Test, Marcus who won the Mystery Box challenge gained an advantage of choosing the core ingredients for everyone to cook with (ginger, garlic or chilies). The challenge was to cook their version of Asian soup in 30 minutes.[2]
4
"Taking It To The Street"
24 September 2015 (2015-09-24)
N/A
The remaining 12 contestants were divided into three teams of four and man their own stall at Singapore’s famous Lau Pa Sat (Telok Ayer Market) hawker centre. Each team was tasked to prepare one of the three main ethnic cuisines of Singapore – Malay, Indian and Chinese. As a winner of the Invention Test in Week 3, Marcus gained the advantage of choosing which cuisine he wants to cook, and have chosen Indian cuisine where he also became the team captain. Green team consist of Blanche (Captain), Lennard, Priya and Rico. Red team consist of Vonny (Captain), Jasbir, Ha and Alice. Although the Blue team received the most positive comments from the judges, the Green team took the victory with over 170 votes, Blue team with 131 votes and Red team with 119 votes. Alice was eliminated due to her mistake of choosing Sirloin over Chuck for the 5 Spice Beef dish which the team decided not to serve because it was too dry.[3]
5
"Claws Are Out"
1 October 2015 (2015-10-01)
N/A
In this episode of Masterchef Asia the remaining 11 contestants must re-invent a classic Singaporean dish – Chili Crab. At the beginning of the show, guest chef Eric Teo demonstrated how to cook a classic Chili Crab and the contestants were given 90 minutes to reinvent the dish. By taking inspiration of the dish and combining it with one of her favorite dish, Blanche won the challenge with her Chili Crab version of Guo Bao. Rico was eliminated as he failed to capture the essence of Singaporean Chili Crab which is the sauce.[2]
6
"One Stewed Pair"
8 October 2015 (2015-10-08)
N/A
Five teams fight over 5 cuisines and 5 home appliances, resulting in a bizarre combination and creative cooking. You’ve never seen the flavors of USA, Thailand, Spain, France and Italy like this before![2]
The pairs are: Leong and Lica, Lennard and Marcus, Blanche and Vonny, Jasbir and Sandrian, Priya and Ha.
Blanche and Vonny is the lowest team of the five, and they face to face with each other in the elimination challenge where they have to cook their best dish in 30 minutes ,using the remaining ingredients in all the 5 fridges at their disposal. In the end, Vonny cook the least impressive dish due to her short crust pastry dish is mainly too sweet and out of balance and was sent home.
7
"For the Greater Good"
15 October 2015 (2015-10-15)
N/A
It was a mass cooking madness in the MasterChef kitchen where the contestants had to cook for 150 guests for a fundraising in conjunction with the World's Food Day.[2]
8
"Lost in Transit"
22 October 2015 (2015-10-22)
N/A
Contestants compete for customers at Singapore Changi Airport, not just with each other, but also with the airport's numerous eateries. Those who survive the challenge are in for a big surprise.[4]
International Broadcast
The programme is being broadcast in the Philippines by TV5 every Sunday night at 8pm, starting 8 November 2015. In Indonesia, every Saturday at 3pm on Global TV. Malaysia, Every Monday at 6:30pm on Astro Ria. In India every Saturday at 10:00pm on Star World Premiere. In Singapore, on Channel 5, starting at 10.30 p.m, every Sunday.