Perth favorite , Derek Lau, has been eliminated from MasterChef Australia, just shy of the competition heading to his home state of Western Australia for a week on the road.
Matt Preston was at home as the auctioneer as Derek battled during the dreaded time auction challenge, tasked with bidding for ingredients using time instead of money.
Taking on Simon, Tim and Tessa, Derek landed eggs, alliums (garlic and onions) and sauces with a cook time of 80 minutes but struggled with a complex idea right off the bat.
Despite the concern from the judges about the complexity of his dish, Derek attempted to use the quail eggs in tortellini with a smoked egg and a caramalised onion emulsion.
With 30 minutes left on the clock, Derek strained his ricotta, rolled his pasta and carefully cracked his first egg. It all began to fall apart when the egg broke as he folded it through the pasta, leaving Derek with no choice but to prepare ravioli as his tortellini creation failed to work.
Derek proceeded to pop a small yolk in his ravioli pasta, but the yolk broke, leaving him frustrated and concerned.
George labelled the dish a disaster and encouraged Derek to quickly think of something else. With time slipping through his fingers, it was clear the challenge was too great for Derek, and his dish wasn’t coming together.
Derek hastily changed his pasta into a fettuccine, using an onion sauce alongside his ricotta and a slow cooked duck egg. He hoped he’d be rewarded during the tasting for not playing it safe, but unfortunately his duck egg pasta and onion sauce didn’t work – the onion sauce was raw and the duck yolk didn’t work on top.
Leaving just seven contestants remaining to battle it out for the top prize, Derek became the 17th contestant eliminated from the competition.
Since leaving the MasterChef kitchen, Derek has been on a food tour through Hong Kong and Singapore. He also plans to open his own restaurant in Perth.
