How to Make a Perfect Risotto | MasterChef Australia | MasterChef World

What you will see today is how to make the perfect risotto. Risotto Milanese. Saffron risotto. One onion, grated. If you want to chop it, you can chop it. But most people can't chop an onion fine, so use a cheese grater. And one clove of garlic, grated. You want it to dissolve into the risotto. There's nothing worse than when you get a risotto that's got those big chunks of onion and garlic. In one of your challenges, you need finely chopped onion. You need crushed garlic. Use the grater. It will become your best friend. So what we're going to do now is cook them without colour. Why? To remove the acidity. As you can see, the juice of the onion and the garlic is evaporating. And when you put them in your pan, the one thing you smell is the acidity of an onion and the garlic. If you don't remove it, then that's part of your dish. It's as simple as that. And that's why we fry an onion. There's an argument whether you use a wooden spoon or a spatula. What do you use, Zoe? I use a wooden spoon. My dear mother would use a wooden spoon. Why? Because she was a traditionalist. The reality is, what a spatula does, it brings everything down from the side of the pan. And it also gets into the corner of the pan. Add our saffron. When you have a saffron risotto, you want that rich orange colour. Almost like one of Van Gogh's sunflowers. You can't be mean with saffron. So you put in your 400 grams of rice. I reckon this rice, once I start, about 16 minutes. Ignore what it says on the packet. You should always overcook it. I'd say about a glass of white wine. Some people don't use wine, some do. What I would say is it depends how good the wine is. If it's really delicious, then just pour it in your glass, not in the pan. So we've added our white wine now. And again, cook out the wine. If you don't cook out the wine, then you've got the acidity within the wine. You have to remove the alcohol, remove the acidity, so you get that natural sweetness of the wine. So our stock's boiling. And our stock is simple. White beef stock infused with saffron. The simple rule is four to one. Four stock to one rice. So in this case, 400 grams of rice to 1.6 litres of stock. You can be really posh and use a ladle and pretend to be really professional. But, you know, in the professional kitchen, we just pour it in like that. It's as simple as that. Rather than ladle, ladle, ladle. So, you can see my rice is submerged in my stock. And again, one of the mistakes a lot of people make is they never put enough stock in. And by not putting enough stock in, what happens is the rice cooks inconsistently. And why do we stir? One, so it doesn't catch. Two, so you rotate the rice, the granules, so they cook evenly. And thirdly, to knock it off the boil. As you can see now, it's boiling. That gives you reduction. Makes it too strong. So by stirring it, you knock it off the boil. And that's why you have to stand over risotto. We're not far away now. For me, risotto should be served al dente. It's not a pudding. So the most important part of a risotto is the finishing. You get that wrong, then you destroy the dish. So you put in your parmesan, yes? As you can see, it's quite finely shaven. Why? So it melts. Soft butter, not hard. You may think I've been over generous with the butter, but look at the depth of that pan. So you can see, it's all melting. I'm letting it sit for a minute. That will change your risottos. And then what I do is I take my spatula and I emulsify it. There we are. Can you see how creamy it is? Yes. Can you see how it's emulsified? Is that wet? Yes. That's how it should be. Any wetter, it's wrong. Any tighter, it's wrong. Do you want to try some, ladies? Please. So there we have it. Risotto Milanese, or should I say Risotto Saffron. It's that simple. Dig in. Always push it to the side. You can feel every individual grain in your mouth. It's not sticky, it's not heavy, it's light. Memorise that texture. Memorise it. And just remember it walks across your plate. It's incredible. It's just so smooth, and I can't believe how much flavour he's put into one pot with so few ingredients.