Poh Ling Yeow Says Being a Masterchef Judge Is “Really, Really Hard”

It’s been 17 years since a young Malaysian Australian painter burst into the public consciousness as a contestant on the inaugural season of Masterchef. Though Poh Ling Yeow ultimately didn’t take home the top prize, the Adelaidean is today one of the most beloved and successful names the show’s ever produced, with multiple cookbooks and TV series of her own. And, of course, she’s into her third season as a Masterchef judge alongside Sofia Levin, Andy Allen and Jean-Christophe Novelli. We took Poh for lunch at Melbourne Sichuan restaurant Dainty on Toorak (her pick) for numbing chicken, mung bean noodles and some of her thoughts.

What have you been up to?
It’s been all-consuming, Masterchef. So, for the last five months, we’ve been filming the 18th season, and it’s been really wonderful. Yeah. I think it’s the season that I’ve enjoyed the most because I feel more settled in my role, and it’s a really beautiful bunch of new contestants as well, the closest-knit group, I think, we’ve had.

What’s harder? Being a judge or a contestant?
A judge for sure. I think everyone thinks it’s one of those jobs where everyone goes, “Oh, well, someone’s got to do it”. But it’s really, really hard. You’re wanting to mentor but, you know, we are still making telly and there’s only a limited amount of time we have to make the decisions. And when it comes down to it, we always just judge the dish. Not the person, not their potential, not their past cooks. It always has to be incredibly focused on the dish that day. It can be really painful, those decisions, because you lose lots of really amazing cooks along the way. And that’s why it’s a competition, you know? It’s the chance aspect of it that makes it exciting to watch.

What do you miss about Adelaide when you’re filming in Melbourne?
I’m a massive homebody, so I really miss Jamface, my market stall, cos that’s kind of my church when I’m at home. It’s just having my hands on the tools, cos the irony of being a judge is I don’t actually get to cook that much on the show. It’s just really judging. So whenever we get to do a demo or whatever, we’re just like kids in a candy store. I think just mooching around at home, being a worm and doing whatever I want. I really miss that, cos the pace of shooting is really full-on.

Tell us about your garden.
Yeah, my garden, it’s kind of like my child. I think a lot of people think that I’m an amazing gardener, but I’m not. I’m just very sort of adventurous and I just give it a red hot go. If there’s an empty patch, I’ll fill it with something and see how it goes. When you’re embedded in caring for a garden, you’re noticing all these rhythms and geometry and colour and the resilience of nature and I just find that really inspiring, especially for my art and just the way I kind of digest life. And when I look at the garden and I see how it rolls through challenge and is able to resprout and regenerate, it really helps me because whenever I’m going through rough times, I actually turn to that.

Will we ever have an easy way to describe Australian cuisine?
No. Our food culture is just such a mash of all our migrant cultures, and we do it well, and we love it. And that’s just how we behave at home as well – everyone will just cook a bit of Italian, a bit of Chinese, and they might get Thai takeaway. It’s just so ingrained in us. I think that’s why a lot of big, big chefs come over here and are quite fascinated. Because I think no matter how lauded they are in their countries, there’s still a limit to how much they can explore, I find. Because the tradition is just so steeped and so – like it’s a cardinal sin when you break one of those rules, like in Italy, you know? I don’t know, there’s just rules that you follow that you don’t break. Whereas in Australia, we’re just like anything goes, you know? If it tastes good, it’s good.

What’s one dish you never order at restaurants?
This is such a weird plain one, but I never order gnocchi. I don’t think I’ve ever had a good gnocchi at a restaurant, no matter how good the restaurant is. I think because everyone thinks their gnocchi is the best gnocchi and it’s the one that’s been handed by their grandma, but it’s not necessarily the best – it’s just what they know. They don’t have any context.

What advice do you have for young Asian Australians who want to do what you’ve done?
I think you have to be really industrious at the beginning and scoop up every opportunity that comes your way and you can’t be proud. You have to be quite ready to do free work and everyone says “Oh you shouldn't, you know, know your worth.” But I don’t agree with that. If someone gives you an opportunity, take it and then just keep driving in the general direction that you want to go in, because that’s how I did it. I think also you have to find something that you truly, truly love to do because it has to inspire you infinitely, cos you have to be able to survive the rough times when you’re in it and if you don’t love it, it’s just miserable. And you only live once.