What's in MasterChef judge Melissa Leong's home kitchen?
From working in a Tasmanian abattoir to hosting Junior MasterChef, Melissa Leong's career in food is the equivalent of a hamburger with the lot. She lives in Melbourne with her bar-owner husband, Joe Jones, and knows her way around a hot sauce or three.
I can't live without … hot sauce. We call our collection of hot sauces the "wall of pain". I'll go right up the Scoville scale; it's painful, but totally worth it on a quesadilla. My friend sent me one called Da' Bomb Beyond Insanity and it's offensively damaging.
My favourite gadget is the NutriBullet – it's the hero of our kitchen. It's great to make dressings and sauces or whip up herbs from the garden with oils. Joe makes whipped cocktails like a Campari and OJ, and it gives them a fluffy, frothy texture. And a cold smoothie never goes astray.
Give me an egg and I'll … make an omelette. Back when I worked in advertising, I used to moonlight for Alex Herbert [of Bird Cow Fish] at Sydney's Carriageworks Market and I learnt how to rock the pan back and forth to create those lovely ripples, and to fold in a seasonal salad just before serving. And you have to use lots of good foamy butter to start.
Go-to midnight meal A dirty quesadilla, or dumplings. I always make more dumplings than I'll be eating in one go, and I freeze them carefully in batches. They're quick and delicious and all the effort has already been made. I'm loving Hetty McKinnon's vegan dumplings in her new cookbook, To Asia, With Love.
My easiest meal to impress anyone, whether it's a date or kids, is my Hainanese chicken rice. I know the recipe inside out and have never had an incident where someone didn't like it. It speaks to the universal truth of simple deliciousness.
You'll never catch me with a piece of Vegemite toast. I use Vegemite in cooking, but the whole toast thing has passed me by.
My mild superhero power in the kitchen is … keeping it clean. I tidy as I go because I simply cannot stand dishes in the sink. Even at a dinner party I'll get stuck into the dishes. The secret is to keep up the witty banter and provide a distraction so no one notices.
I take my caffeine at the very start of the day, typically a long black. I cannot move without a coffee. When I get on the MasterChef set, Jock [Zonfrillo] will make a crazy ristretto that keeps the motor running.
What's in my fridge ... Lao Gan Ma Chilli Crisp Sauce is amazing – you can put it on and in anything, siphon off the oil and use it in a dressing, coat soba noodles in it, or use it as the basis for a dumpling dipping sauce.
I'm embarrassed for you to see but I'll show you ... American cheese. There's nothing better sometimes than a ghetto quesadilla and American cheese is an essential component, as are corn tortillas from La Tortilleria.
My favourite hero ingredient is … salt. All different kinds – smoked, pepperberry, flaked. I used to house-sit for [cookbook author] Helen Greenwood and she'd have six kinds of salt next to her stove. I got my inspiration there.
