Crispy Rendang #2: MasterChef Said Wonton Filling ‘Is Not Crispy’ Enough

Oh yeah. It’s happening again. Bring out your crispy and crunchy popcorns…

We have a show to watch.

Those not yet caught up with episode one, you might want to read about crispy rendang saga here.

MasterChef Australia Season 12 Episode 15: Crispy Dish

This season, also called MasterChef Australia: Back To Win, brings back previously high-achieving contestants to return for another chance at the “MasterChef” title and AUD$250,000 (~S$228k) prize.

Following the order in the picture, there are the judges: series-four winner Andy Allen, Food Writer Melissa Leong and Celebrity Chef Jock Zonfrillo.

In this episode, contestants were required to give dishes that “packed the best crunch” to avoid being sent home.

The Challenger: Crispy Wonton (Wanton?)

26-year-old Brendan Pang, a Perth-based cook of Mauritian-Chinese heritage, prepared a plate of crispy prawn wontons with a side of garlic and chilli sauce.

View this post on Instagram

Fighting for my spot in round 2 of tonight’s all-in elimination. Theme is GOOOEY. Bring it on 🔥 #MasterChefAU

A post shared by BRENDAN PANG (@brendan_pang) on May 3, 2020 at 4:07am PDT

During the judging, an audible crunch can be heard from his fellow judge Zonfrillo’s bite.

“I’m sorry but mine is not crunchy,” said Andy Allen after he’s seen taking a bite. “That’s soft, so in my opinion, it doesn’t meet the brief,” he added while pinching at the wontons’ filling.

Those look like a good plate of wontons (or wanton, however you wanna spell it) to me.

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You might also want to know that Brendan Pang is also known as the “dumpling whisperer“, opened a dumpling restaurant ‘Bumplings‘, AND wrote a book about dumplings ‘This is a book all about dumplings‘.

I don’t know man, but I think this guy knows a thing or two about dumplings.

Celebrity Chef Adam Liaw Came To The Wonton’s Defence

Winner of the second series of MasterChef Australia then explained why the filling part of the wonton does not need to be crunchy:

THE MEAT-CONTAINING PORTION OF A WONTON DOES NOT NEED TO BE CRUNCHY THIS IS LIKE THE CRISPY RENDANG ALL OVER AGAIN #MasterChefAU

— Adam Liaw (@adamliaw) May 3, 2020

I would even go so far to say that if the "ball" portion of a wonton is crunchy, it is a badly made wonton. #MasterChefAU

— Adam Liaw (@adamliaw) May 3, 2020

So someone asked Adam if the challenge was to make something ultra-extra-crispy and maybe wontons weren’t the correct dish.

If they're crunchy in the correct places. You'd be rightly annoyed if you served fried chicken and were told it wasn't good because although the outside was crunchy, the meat was moist and succulent.

— Adam Liaw (@adamliaw) May 4, 2020

What’s the use of crunch if there’s no contrasting texture, am I right?

Twitter users seem to agree.

Yeah, that judge's understanding of any culturally different foods is offensive. He could not even pronounce papadum. This isn't his first offence.

— Sam Lopez (@SamLopezAus) May 3, 2020

Tell them, Adam! Not fan of Andy’s judging. Tried hard to warm up, since I want this group to do better like the old ones but w his constant double dipping, talking w mouth full and just not ready to critique professionally. “Cracking dish” just doesn’t cut it. 👎🏼#MasterchefAu

— Irina 🇦🇺🇵🇭 (@IrinaLV143) May 3, 2020

Fried chicken is just crunchy skin so why has the wonton been so poorly judged?

— KissOfDeathTips (@KissOfDeathTip) May 3, 2020

Brendan Pang Not Eliminated Yet

In the second round of the episode, contestants were required to make a gooey dish. Pang made some cheesy Korean fire pockets which left the judges impressed.

Excuse us, we're completely mesmerised 😍#MasterChefAU @brendan_pang pic.twitter.com/e3Egs6TOvZ

— masterchefau (@masterchefau) May 3, 2020

I guess we can expect a book from Brendan ‘This is a book about crispy wontons’ soon, like how the crispy rendang spawned a book titled ‘My Rendang Isn’t Crispy‘.