Kiama has a local to cheer on in the 2018 series of Masterchef Australia.

“I don’t know where this is going to take me, but I’m keen to use the opportunity to promote Kiama as a food producing region and a great place to visit to help boost our local economy,” said Metter Chin in a break from filming.

He has been spending each weekend at Kiama since he and his partner Joey bought their house at Kendals Beach 12 years ago.

“We are most likely going to move down full-time soon,” he says, “But until now our work has kept us away from home during the week.”

Out of over 1000 applicants, Metter was chosen as one of the top 24 to compete in the 10th anniversary series.

Metter is of Chinese Malaysian heritage, and wants to use the series to highlight the lesser known Chinese cuisine of the Hakka people.

“It is my dream to modernise traditional Hakka food and introduce it to the Australian palate.”

He wowed the judges with his ‘from the heart’ dish of Soy Sauce Shiitake Mushroom Chicken, with Garlic Rice and Stirfried Baby Bok Choy, describing Hakka food as fatty, salty and fragrant. They sent him straight through to the final 24.

If Metter wins, he hopes the prize money will fund a training school and other avenues to help to promote the Hakka peoples’ culture.

To join the competition, Metter had to resign from his contract with an IT company as a senior project manager specialising in banking software installations.

The fifty four year old MBA graduate says his biggest strength in the competition is his desire is to learn and deepen his knowledge and understanding of food.

“I want to get behind the science of food preparation and combinations of favours to make taste buds explode and minds open.

“Don’t they say the brain is the most pleasurable organ in the body?”

You can follow Metter’s progress most evenings on the WIN network, or get to know him better on facebook or instagram.

Details:

Facebook- Metter Chin

Insta – metterchincooks

Twitter – @metterchin

His recipes will be progressively loaded to the Masterchef pages