Wok Stars Episode 10 - Grand Finale

After episode 9 which turned out to be just a prelude, its finally time for the grand, grand, final finale, for the final cook-off between Kenneth and KS.  

The final episode started with the camera crew catching the contestants at home on the day of the final cook-off.  Kenneth was shown demonstrating his awesome Microsoft Office skills, having planned out his steps to finish 30 minutes ahead of time.  He also shared that he was out to prove that CIA graduates trained in Singapore could cook good food, in an effort to show that the local US-trained intelligence community could do more than just cook up stories about Mas Selamat.

The CIA trains its operatives to kill using all objects shown in this photo, including the chef whites

KS was shown mumbling repeatedly about wanting to beat Kenneth, having invested in a canning machine and a donkey's butt to later open a can of whoop-ass over the walking CIA apron.  He then proceeded to make himself breakfast and left home without finishing it.  It must have been pretty alarming for KS fans because 1. there was still no list, 2. he didnt finish his breakfast, which could mean that the food maybe didnt taste too good, or he had stolen a bite of the donkey butt.

You can tell that he is a Willin Low fanboy from the cap

Time for the cooks to step into the Wok Stars kitchen, where the judges informed them that they would have 3 hours to cook for 30 guests.  The winner would be determined based on guests voting as well as the judges' scoring, which seems pretty fair.  

The kitchen helpers/sai-gang warriors were also revealed.  KS chose Nixon because well, he basically thought Nixon was a good saigang warrior, and Sean because he was good at making ice cream.  Kenneth chose Carina because she was neat, probably because it could help offset his messiness, and Kenny because he had made something similar to the mushroom cappuccino before, or maybe because Kenny's name sounded closest to Kenneth. 

Anyway, the cook-off kicked off, and in a shocking turn of events, it was shown that KS actually had a list!  However Kenneth was not to be outdone and was off to a flying start, which he attributed to a lack of stress without Chef Alvin breathing down his neck and screaming in his face.

The key to being a good chef is to have strong arms to carry woks, dishes and your boss' ass

 Unknown to him, the chefs were only hanging back for 30 min, and at the 30 min mark, they came forward to check on the chefs.  However, Kenneth held out well and earned praise from Chef Alvin for delegating the work.  Carina and Kenny were also seen to be working well together.  The judges concluded that both KS and Kenneth had learnt from their mistakes, with KS having his list and Kenneth managing his assistants well.

Trouble soon arose though and Kenneth's stock was not turning out well.  The stock was a critical part of the dish and so it was important for the flavours to be right.  Special mention to Kenny though, he knew the right questions to ask when Kenneth asked him to taste the stock.  I guess the quality of the contestants should be pretty good on the whole!

I am looking for $30,000, happiness, and the meaning of life.

KS also ran into trouble, with Sean trying to cook too many bananas at one go, in the process not being to manage the load and burning them.  The camera then cut to Kenneth gloating over this set-back, which was quite notable because he had just seconds ago claimed to be only competing against himself and not caring about his opposition.

I smell burnt bananas, and success.  But mostly bananas

Kenneth took a gamble and threw in more beef into the stock to enhance the flavour.  The pot was really full by now which shows how much he went for maximum flavour.  KS too was going for more flavour in his curry crepe, having taken in Chef Ryan (of The Line)'s comments that his curry lacked kick.

However Kenneth soon ran into another hiccup, with the steam from his pressure cooker not coming out properly.  He then tried to cool it down in the sink but somehow alot of the stock overflowed.  And because the sink was cluttered, the cooker could not fit into the sink and the stock spilt all over the counter and the floor.  Pretty dangerous situation, and Chef Alvin was rightly pissed.  Safety aside, it also meant the there was now less stock to go around, which jeopardized Kenneth's ability to later serve up 30 portions.

Not to be outdone, KS also ran into trouble and starting burning his crepes, with many ending up in the bin once again.

The secret to burning 1,000 calories in 2 minutes

The judges regrouped and by now had spotted fresh mistakes from the cooks.  KS was observed to not be using his helpers properly, asking Nixon to do the garnishing while the cooking was still not done.  Kenneth was also criticized for having a messy and disorganized station.

Credit to KS, he soon spotted this problem and moved Nixon onto another task, and even thought of using fried curry leaves as a back-up garnish.  However, he was still burning his crepes and even ran out of batter.

Time was running short and little problems crept up everywhere.  Kenneth's team was making deep fried tau pok stuffed with cheese and the cheese was burnt on the outside, while KS was too busy making crepes and was not able to help with the plating.  Kenneth also tried to intensify his flavours but Chef Alvin cautioned him that he might over-do it.

30 minutes left and everyone was trying to rush and getting more flustered.  KS was barking orders to Sean not to use the chao-ta crepes, while Kenneth ran into a comms problem with Kenny and was not able to apportion the cappuccino properly, coming under more fire from Chef Alvin.

The guests starting to stream in and these included the finalists relatives, as well as other Wok Star contestants.  Nice to see Violet cheering for them loudly as well.

In the blink of an eye, time was up.  The judges asked the guests to vote based on 3 criteria.  1. Taste; 2. Hawker-worthiness and 3. Value for money.   i have to say, both dishes looked pretty tasty, but KS's did lose out a little in terms of visuals because the crepes were a bit too dark.

The feedback from the guests were good, but some remarked that the beef was over-spiced, proving that Chef Alvin's earlier intuition was right.  The remark that goreng pisand went well with gula-melaka was also heard a few times.  Nonetheless, there was no clear favourite and the guests seemed to be split on which dish they preferred more.

It was also nice to see that while both KS and Kenneth talked up their own dishes, they also acknowledged the strength of their competitors, which showed their humility.

Back to the judges for their final huddle, and they agreed that both the cooks had done well.  Both had wok star calibre and both had bright futures ahead of them but only could go home with $30,000 more.

*drumroll* the winner was revealed to be KS, and he rode off into the sunset with his girlfriend and $30,000 in tow.

The biggest hint that there will be a Season 2!

   It's of course not the end of the story.  KS has since opened his stall, OMGrill at Happy Hawkers in Jurong (Block 132 Jurong Gateway Road #01-271 Stall 9).  Unfortunately, he isnt selling his winning-crepes but is instead selling fusion grill.  Do check it out if you are in the area!