The MasterChef Asia cooking competition gathers 15 aspiring home cooks from across the region '€” including two Indonesians '€” to bring the most flavorful, innovative dishes to the table.

Cooking competition MasterChef Asia gets even more challenging as contestants have to impress three culinary experts on the judging panel.

The judges are 3-Michelin starred chef Bruno Ménard; Hong Kong-born culinary genius Susur Lee; and Singapore-born Audra Morrice, a MasterChef Australia finalist.

Despite specializing in French cuisine, Ménard has extensive knowledge on Asian culinary techniques. He received three Michelin stars for his neoclassic French cuisine with a hint of Japanese at L'€™Osier restaurant in Tokyo.

Ménard '€” who has spent 20 years establishing some of the best restaurants in Asia and runs a culinary consulting firm in Singapore, where he currently resides '€” said MasterChef Asia gave him a unique culinary experience as he had the chance to taste dishes from 15 home cooks from eight different countries.

'€œ[They have] different flavors, different traditions, different products, different spices but those 15 contestants spoke only one language on MasterChef Asia. It was cooking,'€ he said recently in Jakarta.

Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines are each represented by three home cooks. Indonesia has two contestants. Four remaining spots are filled by contestants hailing from China, Taiwan, Vietnam and India.   

The contestants are of diverse ages and professional backgrounds '€” from a 54-year-old homemaker from Malaysia, Jasbir Kaur, to 27-year-old Singaporean engineer Lennard Yeong. They are all vying to be the winner of a US$50,000 cash prize and a chance to release their own cookbook.

The show sees them cook in the 600-square-meter MasterChef Asia kitchen in Singapore '€” which has a similar design to the MasterChef Australia set '€” and also some off-site and overseas challenges.

MasterChef Asia, which is aired on the Lifetime channel, got Morrice reminiscing about her time on MasterChef Australia in 2012.

'€œIt was the most surreal moment stepping back into that kitchen,'€ said Morrice, who worked in telecommunications before pursuing her culinary dream. '€œThe very first team challenge in MasterChef Asia, I really almost died because I was so nervous for the guys.'€

After finishing in third place in MasterChef Australia, Morrice built a catering business and runs regular cooking classes in Sydney and Singapore.

In addition to hosting her televised cooking show, Tasty Conversation, she has launched a range of food products and will have a cookbook, My Kitchen, Your Table, launched later this year.

'€œThis show really makes dreams come true. As cliché as it sounds, I am living proof of that,'€ Morrice added.

Sharing the judge'€™s table with Ménard and Morrice is Susur Lee, a celebrated chef based in Canada who has received international recognition for his fusion cuisine.

'€œMy job is I want to teach them. But at the same time I want to push them. To make them go to a different level,'€ he said.

Lee is no stranger to cooking competitions. He finished as the runner-up in the 2010 series Top Chef: Masters, a professional chefs competition. He is currently helming four restaurants in Toronto and oversees his prestigious Chinese restaurant, TungLok Heen, in Singapore.

'€œI love to share my experience. My style of cooking is about fusion of different cultures. So I'€™d like to share that, some of the Western, some of the Eastern,'€ he said.

MasterChef Asia offers something different to other MasterChef series as the contestants are not fighting to be the winner for themselves, but also for the pride of their countries.

Representing Indonesia are 25-year-old sales representative Stefan Pratama and 20-year-old university student Vonny Lestari, who is the youngest contestant on the show.

Vonny and Stefan take earnestly the responsibility of carrying the Indonesian flag on their aprons.

'€œIt might be a small flag here but there are more than 200 million people backing you up. That'€™s huge pressure,'€ Stefan, a Medan native who studied in the US and Singapore, said. '€œThis is not the Olympics to be exact. But this is the Olympics of food. So you just really want to perform and do your best for the country.'€

Vonny felt blessed to be on the show, which she said had enabled her to learn from the inspiring judges and chefs in person.  

'€œThe judges have different approaches in cooking and food plating. Personally, I like Audra because she was a contestant. We can relate to her and she can understand what we feel,'€ she said.  

Describing the Indonesian contestants, Ménard said: '€œThey show us their interpretation of what Indonesian cooking is today. They share their stories in the food.'€

The episodes of MasterChef Asia, as Ménard described, are a combination of excitement, determination and pressure. '€œThere was a lot of drama. I can'€™t tell you all but you'€™ll have some people cry,'€ he said.

Morrice gave his assurances that MasterChef Asia was a must-see show for those who love to eat and cook.

'€œIt'€™s exciting, it'€™s exhilarating and it'€™s emotional. It'€™s everything that you would expect MasterChef to be.'€ Audra said.

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