Khanh Ongs Essential Mother Sauce for Home Cooks

He captured Australia's hearts as a MasterChef contestant, and now Khanh Ong is back – but this time, he's the one doing the judging.

The charismatic chef and cookbook author returned to the iconic MasterChef kitchen for Viral Wonders Week's Sandwich Immunity Pin Challenge, and he admits the experience has been nothing short of surreal.

'It was a crazy experience to be on the show and now to come back as a guest judge is incredible,' he said. 

Don't expect Khanh to go easy on the contestants just because he's been in their shoes.

The 32-year-old was blown away by what he witnessed this season, and he's not holding back.

'The level of contestants – the home cooks – their level of understanding of food, how to cook, how to bring flavours together, how to be creative, just keeps improving,' he says.

'I even said at one stage that I would be really nervous if I was up against any of them in a challenge.'

What impressed him most wasn't just technical skill – it was the sheer audacity of their ideas.

'People were really pushing the envelope. I saw a lot of things while I was there that I went, "I don't know how you thought of that. I wouldn't have thought of that,"' he said. 

'There's a creativity and a level of risk–taking that I haven't really seen until this year.'

And what was he looking for as a judge? His answer is refreshingly no–nonsense. 'Flavour and fit –  and hit the brief,' he says.

'I learned that really early in my MasterChef career. If you're given a brief, if you can fulfil those guidelines, you're probably going to do well.'

Off the judging panel, Khanh is on a mission – championing Vietnamese cuisine for a new generation.

'I'm really trying to champion Vietnamese food and do it in a cool, new, young way, because I feel as though if we don't, there'll be a whole generation that will miss out on those traditions,' he says earnestly.

He says his weapon of choice is Vietnamese nước chấm – a dipping sauce made from fish sauce, lime, sugar, garlic and chilli, with optional additions of ginger or finely chopped coriander.

'It's great on salad. It's great on fried things. It's great to dip into. It's great on vermicelli. It's just the all-rounder for Vietnamese cooking,' he enthuses.

'I always have a jar of it in the fridge. I actually posted the recipe for it last night because it is like the mother sauce for every single thing.'

He grins when recounting what his mum used to tell him growing up. 

'She'd say, "You're never going to get married unless you can balance this sauce properly."'

Has he mastered it? 'I think so – every dish I've made it on MasterChef has been a winner. So I think that sauce is the secret.'

For someone whose life revolves around food, you might expect Khanh's weekly meals to be a parade of elaborate dishes. The reality? Decidedly more practical.

'This is so rogue,' he warns with a laugh.

'The last few weeks – I just released my cookbook about three or four weeks ago – so I would make at the beginning of the week a giant pot of veg soup, freeze it, and every time I defrost a portion I'd put a chicken breast in it. I had that every single day, twice a day, for two weeks.'

His reasoning is solid: 'There's no time to cook anything else. There's no time to be creative. But it was a really delicious chicken and vegetable soup – and then I'd add extra protein to every portion.'

When it comes to romance, Khanh keeps first dates low–key – a coffee and a walk – but once things progress, his kitchen becomes his secret weapon.

'I don't think I would have someone in my home on the first date,' he says, 'but maybe a couple of dates down the track.'