Masterchef (US) - Ninth Season

Narrator: Previously on MasterChef...

Oohh!

You all will have ingridients from your home states.

The first mystery box of the season...

sent three home cooks...

Syd, you didn't use your time wisely.

Sal, it was inedible.

Alecia, totally failed.

into a high-stakes elimination test...

- Whoo! - Go, guys. Let's go!

where Sal...

Too bad you cooked it medium

instead of medium-rare.

and Syd...

It's lacking seasoning.

The sauce is broke.

...saw their MasterChef dream

come to an end.

Tonight...

- Crabs! - ( cheering )

a Gordon Ramsay master class...

Oh, my gosh. Wow.

I have no idea how I'm gonna do this.

leaves the top 22...

- Oh! - ( squeals )

...shell-shocked. And...

The is the reason I gave you the pin.

while some home cooks break out of their shell...

- Pop! There we go. - others...

- Feel like I'm gonna faint. - ...crack under the pressure.

We hate to see people in our own apron walking out the door.

Hey! Hey! Yeah, we here, baby!

- Whoo! - We here!

I'm one of the top 22 home cooks in America.

I'm on cloud nine. I cannot be taken down.

Yeah! We here!

Something that I tell my students every single day,

is that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve it.

I'm really feeling that statement

in the MasterChef kitchen tonight.

Welcome back, everybody.

You are the best 22 home cooks in America.

- Whoo! - All right, guys,

your next challenge is what we call a skills test.

- ( sighs ) - ( murmuring )

Oh, no.

Tonight is all about one ingredient,

and it's best when it's 100% fresh.

Tonight, you will all have to work with...

- ...crabs! - ( cheering )

Oh, my God, it's freaking crabs.

- I'm allergic to all shellfish... - There you go.

...but I'm gonna put all this fear behind me,

and take this challenge head on.

Tonight, each of you will take one of these Dungeness crabs,

boil it, shuck it, and break it down.

- Oh, Lord. - And if you've never done it before,

don't worry, because I'm about to show you how.

Being from Arizona, man, we don't get crab very often.

I'm a little scared,

but Gordon fricking Ramsay is gonna show us

how to completely break down a Dungeness crab.

I'm beyond honored.

First off, salt the water.

Bring that up to a boil, grab the crab, and in she goes.

- 15 minutes. - Okay.

Undercooked, we're in trouble.

You're not gonna release that incredible meat from the shell.

Once it's done, hold it nice and firmly,

and straight in to ice water.

Submerge it in there, and from there we take it out,

and we start breaking it down.

Take off the legs, pull and twist.

Twist off.

Now, open up the purse. Thumbs underneath.

Lift that purse up there.

- Wow. - And then the body.

Knife in.

Now, over a tray,

you get your thumb and you flush out all this amazing crab,

every little ounce of it.

Now, for the legs.

First cut here,

and then open up the top and the bottom.

And then literally slide your finger through.

Beautiful. The secret is to get these out nice and whole.

Now, the claws-- twist, pull out the blade.

Really important. Then from there, knife.

- Twist. - Wow.

Finger in, pop out that beautiful claw.

- Damn. - And now we start to present it.

Get a touch of olive oil and lightly brush your shell,

and gently go over those claws.

The olive oil protects it and stops it from going dry.

Now, take your sweet meat.

It is super delicious.

The crab sits on top.

Then start putting the crab back together.

Come around. Finally, back legs on.

And that is how a true MasterChef dresses a crab.

- You guys ready? - All: Yes, Chef.

Good. Let's go.

Aarón: All right, guys, so now it's your turn.

So, please, reach in,

grab a crab out of that tank, and head back to your stations.

- Okay. - Come on up.

- Get 'er done! - Go, guys!

Come on.

- Oh, my God. - ( cheering )

- ( screaming ) - Okay. All right. All right.

Oh. Damn, I gotta do it.

All right, this my boy right here.

Indian Cuisine, in terms of the region my parents are from,

we're not really near any bodies of water.

So I never really had the chance to experience crab.

It always kind of freaked me out.

So today's skills test

is really gonna be a challenge for me.

All right, guys, so you have 30 minutes to cook,

get that crab meat out, and displayed on that slate

just like Gordon did.

When your time is up, if you got even close to Gordon,

you will immediately move up to the safety of the balcony.

But if we decide you haven't

removed enough meat from the crab,

or if we find shell in amongst your crab meat,

you will immediately face elimination

in the next challenge.

- Aarón: Is everyone ready? - All: Yes, Chef.

Your 30 minutes start...

...now.

Gotta get that water salty.

- Make it taste like the sea, Gerron. - I know.

This is a super restaurant-y, professional skill set.

- Yes. - Are we asking too much of these 22 contestants

at this point in the competition?

The level this year already is up there.

In order to test their ability,

- this is a great skills test. - ( screaming )

- ( laughing ) - What are we looking for in our next MasterChef?

Gordon: We're looking for a quick learner tonight.

We're looking for someone who's got great attention to detail,

and also who's respecting the product.

This whole competition is about confidence,

learning things that might be a little bit scary to you,

and adapting and overcoming.

Hey. You got this.

As a vegetarian of over 10 years,

I really wanted to show that regardless of never having eaten crab or meat,

I can do just as well as anybody else in here.

So, I'm gonna get up on that balcony today. You'll see.

Come on.

- Olusola, how you doing, sweetie? - I'm doing great.

I don't have experience cooking a crab live,

but I'm gonna take delicate care with the crab.

I'm gonna do everything that Chef Gordon Ramsay has presented to me today.

Everything is at stake. I am not going back home to drive a bus.

Guys, we're halfway, okay? 15 minutes remaining.

You should all be getting your crabs out.

Oh, he's fat.

Should be good, should be good.

Ooh, the ice!

Okay. I did it.

Pop! There we go, baby.

Tonight, the objective is to maximize the yield

in that amazing crab,

and more importantly, no shell across that meat.

Come on. No shell, no shell.

I feel really good. I'm from Iowa.

So, it's not very common that we have fresh crab,

but watching Gordon, I think he explained it really well.

And I'm still in school. I'm used to learning every day.

So, I think that's definitely an advantage.

I'm trying to work clean like Chef said,

and just get it done.

Last 10 minutes. Here we go.

Come out of there for big papa.

Come on. Work quickly.

Faster, just faster.

Come on, Ralph. Pick it up.

I'm feeling pretty confident.

I've done a good job of, I think,

paying attention to what Gordon said.

I really made sure there was no shells.

The big thing in dentistry is clean as you go,

so we really wanna make sure that we have a clean workspace.

So, I really apply the same skills to cooking

when it comes to cross-contamination, being organized,

and, you know, if you have everything in place,

and have a plan together, you should succeed.

I'm extremely comfortable with crabs.

At my mom's restaurant,

we have a crab and lobster bisque,

so I'm breaking 'em down every day.

You know, I've worked with shellfish,

oysters, clams, lobster.

I'm from Maine, so I'm not gonna be eliminated today.

I'm very comfortable with this animal.

- Gordon: Five minutes remaining. - ( groans )

You've got less than three minutes to continue extracting,