Editor’s note: Hilo’s Felix Fang is a contestant on the Fox TV show “MasterChef,” which airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Oceanic Time Warner Cable channels 3 and 83. Her weekly blog about her experiences on the program
Editor’s note: Hilo’s Felix Fang is a contestant on the Fox TV show “MasterChef,” which airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Oceanic Time Warner Cable channels 3 and 83. Her weekly blog about her experiences on the program will run each Friday in the Tribune-Herald until she either wins or gets voted off by the judges. Unless otherwise noted, the first names of those mentioned in this blog are other contestants on the show.
Our vans pulled over soon after we departed the city of Los Angeles, and we were each blindfolded for the rest of the ride. To passing vehicles we must of looked like hostages being trafficked. With my bestie Christine in the same van, we all kid about how it is now officially fair to proceed with the next challenge. But masked behind the jokes was tension and unease of what was in store.
We were unmasked at Camp Pendleton, a major Marine Corps base that serves as amphibious training headquarters for Assault Craft Unit 5. After walking into a trench, we’re literally blown out of our minds by Viper attack helicopters overhead boarding the judges!
Our challenge was to serve 201 Marines after being split into teams of Red and Blue. It’s a huge honor that comes with an equal measure of pressure.
Two hours to prep and cook enough to serve 201 hungry Marines is insane! I was on the Blue team and Frank, our captain wanted to go with a summer orecchiette with roasted vegetables and grilled chicken. Sounds like a lady’s lunch at the country club — and that’s going up the against the Red team’s pork chop with barbecue sauce, potatoes and coleslaw! I was worried about the menu, but felt confident because our team worked in harmony. At the end of the day, it’s our brave soldiers’ vote that counted — and we lost.
I was very grateful that Frank wanted to save me from the elimination challenge because I had suggested that we do a barbecue chicken with mac and cheese. But dammit, I wanted to cook!
Really, you cannot get too comfortable in the “MasterChef” kitchen, but maybe I am just bonkers. Like my mom says, I always have to take the hard way. The challenge was apple pie! I love baking pies, but I never cook my fruits before baking. It was a good-looking pie, but the filling didn’t have enough time to caramelize to perfection in the oven.
I was bawling like a baby when Michael was asked to take off his apron. It was probably a good thing that they didn’t show my face. He’s like a little brother to me. Did you know that he came out (as gay) to his parents on the way to the airport to leave for “MasterChef”? I am proud to say that he is doing extremely well and has already staged at two very renowned restaurants in Austin since his departure.
What an exciting mystery box to unfold! Offal: The less valuable edible parts of a carcass, including the entrails and internal organs. I was kind of bummed that my dish was not shown because I was very proud of my creation.
I pressure-cooked the cow tongue in vegetable stock, white wine, salt, white pepper, garlic, ginger and spring onions. It was then sliced and given criss-cross diagonal cuts along the flat surface and wok fried with peppers, chilies, basil and garlic. Sort of Chinese 3-cup style, but I made a sauce with soy, honey and wine. I served it with rice and a radicchio wedge salad that had been infused with sesame oil, salt, sugar and lemon juice. I actually got a “Wow. Look at that,” from (judge) Joe (Bastianich) when the judges walked around.
Sweetbreads was the winning theme, and I was quite surprised that Becky didn’t get the win, since her dish looked most complex. And the crunch of Christine’s panko-fried sweetbreads made my mouth water. But the victory put Ryan conveniently on the spot to play the bad guy. “It’s time to throw some people under the bus, and I’m the bus driver … watch out.”
No holding back for Ryan; he’s in it to win it. Boy, did Christine show him what’s up when she cooked up the winning dish of the evening with her live crab!
Between you and me, after Chef (Gordon) Ramsay told us to pack for a few days and get a good night’s sleep, he said, “Aloha!”
