From season one MasterChef runner-up in 2010 to co-hosting the enduring cooking show in 2024, Malaysian Australian cook and artist Poh Ling Yeow has come full circle, and she is relishing the opportunity.

Yeow has been busy filming episodes in Melbourne, commuting weekly from her base in Adelaide, where she still runs her bakery Jamface. “I love routine and the normalcy of keeping connected to my bakery and my community,” she says. “I am still doing the commute, but it’s quite grounding for me.”

Yeow doesn’t take for granted the opportunity to co-host MasterChef, which came after the death last April of previous co-host Jock Zonfrillo.

“I am very sensitive to the fact this opportunity came my way with the passing of Jock,” she says. “I am glad to push his legacy forward with a new beginning, and it’s been a joy to get to know the other hosts [Sofia Levin, Andy Allen, and Jean-Christophe Novelli].

“They always say this show is about the contestants, and I am so in love with every one of them. My role in the show is to give them that leg up and to start thinking in a way that has them fast-tracking the processes that I had to learn the hard way.”

Drinking two pots of green tea is what fuels her days, and while filming, Andy Allen is the on-set barista who makes coffee for everyone. Yeow is an ambassador for the Philips Airfryer, and says being constantly on the move means that when she feels like quickly creating dishes, she turns to the electronic cooker.

“It’s perfect for roasted sides like potatoes, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts and broccoli, and for those who don’t have much confidence in the kitchen but want healthy options.”

The transition from MasterChef contestant to judge has been a positive one for Yeow. “I love the energy of the new team – there’s always something new to learn from someone, and it’s been a great experience.”

Eating in

Signature dish and go-to at home

I love Italian and I learned a lot about their dishes when I travelled to Sardinia a few years ago. A favourite dish I make at home is culurgiones – a tear-shaped dumpling made with semolina dough, stuffed with potato, pecorino, mint and garlic oil. You serve it with sage brown butter.

I have a weird affinity with Sardinian dishes that I can’t explain. Leading up to MasterChef: Back to Win in 2020, I was looking up unusual Italian dishes and many originated there. It was a dream to visit.

Guilty pleasure

It’s probably a bad one, but it’s two-minute noodles. There are so many fancy ones at Asian grocers nowadays. There’s one my family gets that is abalone with dong quai, a herb we use for its healing properties. It’s like a herbal soup with pre-braised baby abalones in a pouch. It’s very fancy.

Best kitchen wisdom I cling to

I learned about balance from my mum – salty, sweet and sour. At the end of cooking a meal, it’s all about these three things.

Eating out

Favourite hometown restaurants (and go-to dishes)

One of my family favourites is Vietnam Restaurant in Adelaide – they make amazing lotus leaf rice, barbecue quails, and pork balls that you wrap in rice-paper rolls.

A hole-in-the-wall place dear to my heart, and the only place I could afford to eat out during my university days, is Ying Chow. My favourite dish to order is tea-smoked duck. It has beautiful memories for me. I like to remember the old days and go with people from that era of my life.

I also love Shobosho Japanese Restaurant – I am a big fan of their smoked leek dish. I also love their blue swimmer crab udon in yuzu and the salt-and-vinegar chips. They use a Japanese vegetable turner and it’s one long rectangular chip.

For a low-key and regular family spot in Adelaide, we would always dine at Shiqi. We’d order kangkong (water spinach) with a tray of pastes and a salty fish fried rice. Sometimes they’d make special dishes for us. I always used sit there like a jellyfish and my parents would take over with the ordering. No matter how old I was, they still designated me as the child at the table and I didn’t have much of a say [laughs].

Favourite hometown cafe and/or bar

One of my old favourite cafes is Gilberries in Rose Park, Adelaide. It’s been there for years and is owned and run by a husband-and-wife team. I always order their ricotta pancakes with poached pears.

There’s a bar in Kensington Road, Rose Park, called Willmott’s Gastronomia that I like to visit for an Aperol cocktail and a salumi platter.

Favourite places to eat in Australia

I’ve made beautiful food memories in Tasmania travelling with Pennicott Wilderness Journeys. I’ve eaten some very memorable sea urchin and lobster direct from the sea. They host you on a small charter boat, where they fish and cook everything fresh for you. I have done it a few times now for shows I have filmed. Bruny Island Oysters is another amazing must-try.

On the road

Favourite food cities

Can I be a cliche and say Paris for the pastries? Being an artist, I love the aesthetic that goes with it all, but I prefer the boulangeries as I like discovering the local bakery and love the scrolls. I don’t go for fancy cakes. I have visited Paris twice in my lifetime so far.

Another city I loved was Barcelona and trying dishes at the big food market La Boqueria. I ate a squid and fried egg dish at El Quim de la Boqueria. It’s famous and lived up to the hype. I also ate a delicious pistachio- and custard-filled croissant at Pastisseria Brunells in Barcelona. You walk around and there’s a myriad of choices.

Italy is another favourite. I went to Sardinia on a pilgrimage because I wanted to learn how to make the rarest pasta dish in the world. It’s called su filindeu. Chef Giovanni Pilu, from Pilu at Freshwater in Sydney, put me in touch with the team at Domu Antiga. I stayed for three days and did cooking classes − you cook all day. They changed my outlook on cooking. There, it’s all about simplicity. I have become close friends with the daughter of the family, and we talk all the time.

Favourite places to eat in Sydney

The finger buns at Humble Bakery are a must. They have a slab of butter in the middle and the icing has chunks of sugar crystal on the top. The Portuguese tarts at Tuga Pastries are also worth travelling for.

I also love Restaurant Hubert in Sydney for a classic French meal of steak frites, and their roe boat is a must.

Favourite places to eat in Melbourne

I haven’t explored Melbourne a lot, but I plan to in 2024.

I went to Pa Tong on Flinders Lane recently while filming MasterChef. It’s the best Thai I have ever had. They make many Northern Thai dishes you can eat with sticky rice. I ate a memorable creeping vine omelette with a salty relish.

We also ate at Aru with the MasterChef team when Khanh Nguyen was still the head chef.