‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 recap and spoilers: Harry clashes with Chloe; Nicolette's extra dish proves to be deal-breaker

It was an intense team challenge on the 29^th episode of “MasterChef Australia” Season 8. On June 8, two groups battled head to head with a cook that centred on a Chinese New Year feast. Yellow team’s Harry Foster butted heads with captain Chloe Bowles over their noodle dish, but they managed to work out their differences. At the end of the cook however, they didn’t make enough money to beat the other team headed by Elise Franciskovic.

Aussie chef and empress of Chinese cuisine Kylie Kwong joined judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston in mentoring and tasting the teams’ dishes. The losing team from the Chinese New Year challenge will be tasked to cook a dish determined by lucky dip.

Spoiler Alert! This article contains "MasterChef Australia" Season 8 spoilers. Read only if you want to know more about it.

Network Ten posted a sneak peek of Thursday’s episode, featuring tonight’s pressure test. While seven home cooks will arrive in the “MasterChef Australia” kitchen, only six will survive. Their spot on the competition will be based on the dish that they serve, which will be determined by lucky dip. Some will hit the jackpot, while the others are not so fortunate.

However, these contestants would need more than luck. At this stage of the competition, they’d have to give it everything they’ve got. One contestant’s efforts won’t be enough, but one makes a dish so exceptional, it will blow the judges away. Chloe will have a big decision to make: to play the immunity pin or not. She feels torn – as the captain of the losing team, she has to go down with the others, but she also doesn’t want to put herself in jeopardy of being booted out.

“MasterChef Australia” Season 8 recap

The contestants arrived at Melbourne’s Chinatown, where they were informed that they’d be preparing Chinese feast in time for Chinese New Year. Teaming was determined through fortune cookies, and Chloe ended up leading the yellow team while Elise became team captain of the red.

Chef Kylie walked in and informed the contestants that she’d be helping them throughout the cook, as they faced a daunting day. In addition to leaving their comfort zones, they had to feed 500 hungry dines with a minimum of two dishes – one priced at $7 and the rest at $5. The team which makes the most money wins, and the unfortunate one will be sent straight to pressure test.

Chloe quickly rallied up her team and they decided to prepare braised pork belly skewers with hot plum jam for $7. She put Matt Sinclair and Miles Pritchett to the task, while Elena Duggan handled the sauce. For their five-dollar plate, they agreed to make beef noodle salad, led by Harry and assisted by Zoe Konikkos and Mimi Baines. Harry originally wanted a hot dish, but Kylie advised them against it, considering the number of people they had to serve. Chloe heeded Kylie’s advice and opted for cold dish. She put her foot down as team captain, and while it took a while, Harry finally relented.

Over on the red team, Elise and her team chose to make xo pork with noodles and salad with Brett Carter and Trent Harvey for $7, and pork and prawn fried wontons for $5 with Karmen and Heather Day. Anastasia Zolotarev was tasked to prepare the chilli sauce for the wontons, while Nicolette Stathopoulos agreed to do a sweet dish for $5. Alone at the task, she got overwhelmed and wanted to ask for help. However, seeing everyone’s busy with their own assignments, she forged on to prepare coconut sago pudding.

The red team hit a snag when Gary came over to question their pork portions. Brett and Trent then realised that they only prepared half of the pork quantity that they need to sell. With only 15 minutes before service started, the two men managed to push themselves and salvage the situation.

Once the service started, it was all systems go for the two teams, with food and cash flying all over Chinatown. Over on the judges’ table, Kylie commented that Karmen and Heather’s wontons were a bit dry, although they sold like hotcakes. It was Annalise’s chilli sauce that saved the dish. The red team’s pork with noodles and salad earned rave reviews from the judges because of its intense flavour, perfectly cooked noodles and tender pork. Nicolette’s dessert dish was spot-on, and she was singled out for doing it alone.

When the judges tasted the yellow team’s dish, the beef noodle salad left them looking for more flavour. While the beef was done perfectly, the sauce was bland and disappointing. The customers echoed the judges’ comments, as they looked for more zing in the dressing. The yellow team's dish was redeemed with their pork belly skewers, which the judges and the punters loved.

Towards the end of service time, Chloe realised that there’s no one in their queue, and when she looked over at the other team, people were all lined up waiting to buy food. To salvage their situation, they decided to do a third dish – tiger prawn skewers. While they picked up the pace and had customers going over their station, their last-minute attempt failed to bring enough cash to the till. At the end of the challenge, the red team was able to raise $3,285. After the judges declared the winner, team captain Elise breathed a sigh of relief and gushed, “It's the best feeling ever to win a team challenge as a captain!” Chloe, on the other hand, was left shattered, feeling that she let down her teammates.

Find out what happens next week to “MasterChef Australia,” and stay tuned for episode spoilers. “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 airs every Sunday to Thursday at 7.30pm on Ten.