MasterChef judge refuses to eat contestant's dish as it left them 'uncomfortable'

A Masterchef contestant felt the heat after an element of his dish had judge Gregg Wallace feeling 'uncomfortable'.

Out of Gregg Wallace and John Torode, Wallace is normally the easier nut to crack when it comes to winning a compliment from one of the Masterchef judges.

Alas, even Wallace was left struggling and actually refused to try part of the dish in one episode of the UK version of the show.

In 2013, contestant Woei embarked on a chicken curry dish served with rice.

Despite being up against the time, Woei said it was all 'under control'.

He continued: "Don't worry, the sauce is done. Hopefully it doesn't blow John and Gregg away with the heat."

Alas, it wasn't the heat that the chef needed to be worrying about.

One part of the dish really raised Greg Wallace's brows (BBC)

In fact, the judges were big fans of Woei's sauce, John complimenting it as 'rich and buttery, sweet with tomato and nice chilli heat running through the back of it,' even resolving he 'love[d]' it.

"The thing with the curry leaf, it's nice and crispy but because they are curry leaves, they stay quite greasy," he continued.

However, the real 'issue' came with Woei's chicken.

Wallace noted: "There's a pink tinge on the insides of my bits of chicken, which is putting me off.

'"They're undercooked. Not all of it but enough to make me uncomfortable."

And the subject of pink chicken has really ruffled Masterchef fans' feathers, viewers quick to take to social media to debate the issue.

Wallace's concern was the chicken looked raw (BBC)

A Reddit user took to the thread r/Masterchef wrote: "Seriously though??? What is up with people serving raw chicken!! Before the billions of comments about 'time constraints' 'err on side of cooking shorter' etc, I get it. Fine for the first few seasons okay, mistakes. But season seven where every contestant says they’ve been watching the show, should understand how upset the judges get over raw chicken vs a bit overcooked. And yet, it’s served almost every episode. At this point it’s just a running joke to me!"

However, another user defended: "Things change drastically when you're put in a different environment. People get comfortable in their kitchens. They know how long their ovens take to cook something, they know how well their pans cook meats and can time them. When you get out in an environment where you are using completely different equipment you get thrown off completely. Then add on the timer aspect where stuff has to get done in a time frame, it adds pressure that messes with you."

Although, a since-deleted user wrote: "Just don't even touch a chicken in MC."

Someone replied: "I get a bowl of popcorn ready when they have a challenge with chicken."

However, as Woei ultimately resolved: "You have to learn how to take criticism as well. Resilience is the most important part of life."