Makan Kakis with Denise TanThis week's guest and Foodie Friend is 58-year-old Raj Shagaran Mahalingam, a creative events producer and groovy grandpa whose colourful personality is matched only by his colourful cooking creations! He certainly spiced up the MasterChef kitchen with his antics and after making it into the Top 9, he's here to share his experience of the competition.
In Part 1, Raj shares about rising after his literal fall in the kitchen that cost him a place in the Top 8, his "alien" encounter with runaway mud crabs & how joining the competition has changed his approach to cooking.
call 905. Sounds good, feels good, kim Wilde you came thank you for tuning in and I hope you'll stay on this tasty thursday. I have a guest and if you've been following a Master Chef Singapore season three, you might have just watched the latest episode and we saw one of the contestants just exit the master chef
kitchen. He's with us today and I'm sure he's got lots of insights straight from the competition. It's Rajasekaran model inga. Hello, welcome Makan Kaki,
I am raj a 50 year old granddad with an 18 year old soul. I'm just a colorful, loud person. That's it. That's me. Yeah,
I mean, you're definitely eye catching for the way you dress the way you cook and your personality. So as you were saying, you're 58 year old groovy grandpa, I
am, I have a four year old grandson,
Then you have an 18 year old soldier.
Do you think this has something to do with the fact that you're creative events producer?
Yeah, I've been in the creative industry for many years and everything and I got to be a bubbly fun person. I can't be a boring person to sell events, can you imagine? So, yeah, this is me. Anyway, this is my real meanwhile, was in the show. Even the producer says, hey, maybe right, you need to tone down a bit. But I said if I tone down then it's not right, somebody else. No, I've got to be who I am, you got to get
absolutely your career in the creative events really just spills over
into the kitchen. So that bubbly Nous that larger than life over the top personality really comes through in your cooking style. So I have to say, you've been sitting on a really big piece of news, you can't share with anyone, right until the most recent episode. I mean, how did you keep it under wraps? Were you like
busting with?
Yeah, I was like, I got to tell somebody, but I can't. I mean, you signed that document and everything, so okay, watch it for yourself. But there was a lot of editing done and everything, so you don't actually see so much of what actually really happened at a certain point in time. I was like a cat with nine lives, okay. I survived every curveball arrow, that everything that's thrown at me. Unfortunately, it was my fault, I had to fall in the kitchen thrills
and spills. You took the
literally fell, you know, and even Chef Damon had to pick me up and everything. I mean, it was so bad that I dislocated my arm, so when I dislocated my arm for the elimination round one was the coffee delicious mousse thing, that's where I fell and my hand was dangling, I was like cooking with one arm, I didn't want to tell the judges of the producers and everything, cause I didn't want to be kicked out immediately, so I just kept pushing myself, I said, okay, no, again, I'm gonna push this and get it done and I moved through for the next round and the next elimination round is where I have to replicate a dish from Chef Katrina. So my shoulder went back in popped in again, so it was fine. I continued throughout the process, he came to the point where I had to use the pressure cooker and that's where I struggle, so when I pushed and it popped out again and so it was that goes, oh no, so again, back to just cooking with one arm and I just kept on smiling, giving them that post just trying to look good and everything and continued, so I was like a little menace on site because I had to ask a lot of questions, I was far behind from the rest, but sadly it was a distraction for the others and everything, but well I have no choice but to us, but at the end of the day I completed my dish and it was only missing one main ingredient other than that it was pretty good for me, but sadly,
but that there is nothing to be ashamed of getting into nine and you really rode through some major pain in order to produce your dishes. That's really admirable, I think for you, right, you were saying that the show has to go on, you've got to put up a brave front.
I mean of course they had to stop and treat my shoulder and everything, but I said it's fine. I would still go on, I'm, I'm okay. I want to complete the task. I don't want to just leave because I felt you know, and I proved I made it, I made it through the elimination round and I moved on to the next elimination round. But if it's not for the fall I can make it
through all the way to the top. I'm telling you don't mess with raj, I'm
not gonna mess with you man. It's the sheer confidence
and I think the sheer personality and force of will really helped you make it through so many different challenges. Would you say that this was one of the scariest and weirdest things to have happened to you
in the movie. Alien is like one of my favorite horror movies became in 1979. I remember I was only 15 years old and everything that you said right after the movie, I ran for my life. Okay, I ran for my life to catch the bus, not because I'm going to miss the bus, but because I felt like aliens were chasing after me. That was when I was 15 years old. Okay, so the story is to practice for master chef. I bought five live crabs is about 150 bucks. So I said, okay, today I'm going to cook two crabs and do a chili crab and practice and then I'm going to keep the rest of it
for tomorrow to make my black pepper crab. So I cooked two crabs and after finished done everything, I took the other three remaining crabs untidy putting a pail of water and left it in the kitchen. The next morning I woke up to get ready to cook. They were
missing, missing.
And the next minute I knew I was like Sigourney beaver had a ladle in one hand and the paneling on the other hand and my heart was
pounding. Can you imagine? Because I untied them. So they were like, we have to look all here. And then I managed to find all three crabs. I got them back and then they were like waving at me saying, don't eat me, don't eat me. And my heart dropped. I had no heart to cook it. And you know what I did. I took all three crabs. I went to Woodlands Pond next to cosplay
And release all three Crabs. So now you know where you're going to get life fresh, it's been a year. So can you make me? But now it's going to be this big,
huge Yeah, I think it's so cute because they showed such grit and determination to try and escape. You're like, I can't beat you now
for one minute. I was so fearful for myself, you know, like three crabs. Next minute I became so soft heart and I released all three claps.
Talking about crabs that is one of your signatures right? It is venom crab
My venom black pepper crab is my signature dish came up with their own style and everything. And I used the black sugar that you get it only from Okinawa japan, wow. Any ordinary sugar. This is very costly. That goes into my black pepper crab with cherry. I
can only imagine how amazing and delicious
and taste
to die for. For sure. You
did manage to showcase this particular dish, right?
I did from an audition and that's where I got
it. Yeah, So it's been over a year. Right? I mean you've been through so many experiences and your master chef Singapore journey. Would you say that your cooking style has changed your approach to food has changed in any way?
I mean it was a learning journey was really a great journey. I learned a lot and it was fun. It was totally fun. It's all I wanted was the apron with the M. I dream about this, having this apron with the M someday, you know, you never know. So I submitted my application and bank, I got it. So that's why we moved on anything. I'm still the same old right to use the word abundance. Okay, great. But more doesn't always mean better.
Less is best you want to be careful about how much food you buy, how much would you cook and eat because you really don't waste food also, do you know that the amount of food that we eat in a day in Singapore, you can easily go to feed the entire zoo for three days. So that's something that we learn and everything because one of the episodes, we were challenged at the zoo and everything, so that was very meaningful,
sustainability is quite a catch phrase these days. And would you say that that kind of inform the way you want to approach cooking as well? Just about wasted?
Yes, I'm very mindful now. So I just decided to buy less, cook less and eat healthy and use local produce because the master chef itself, they gave like huge big prawns and pamphlets and everything. I had no idea that these are all locally produced. It is wonderful to hear that support local produce and I just hope we have plans for chickens because it was so dependent on Malaysia and everything.
I have an idea for any, since we don't have space in Singapore land itself, why do we consider our sister island like island everything and use those islands and have chicken farms? That'd be great. I don't mind running a chicken farm.
I love your imagination, your creativity. So
we don't have to be so dependent on Malaysia. Sorry for the chicken rice sellers and whoever is selling chicken.
So what are you going to do personally? Are you okay with the fact that there could be a chicken shortage or price hike in chicken
seafood
anyway, your specialty is crab. So
you know, you still have other meat or go, you know, veggie veggie is great for healthy living.
We're having a great conversation with our guest and exiting master chef Singapore contestant Roger. He had a very dramatic final time in the kitchen in the most recent episode, Catch up on me, watch dot S. G. And be sure to tune into the next episode. This sunday 5th june 9 30 pm on five. We'll continue this chat with Roger and just a little bit and he'll also be recommending some of his favorite eats, so stay with us.
