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judge Jean-Christophe Novelli has divided viewers on social media after he described an ingredient as “the most boring ingredient on the planet”. The French chef admitted during Monday night’s episode that he wasn’t a fan of okra, a green, tube-like fruit that’s eaten as a vegetable and grown all over the world. Also known as lady’s fingers or bhindi, okra has a unique grassy flavour and is commonly used in soups, frying, roasting or boiling.

Its taste is often compared to green beans or eggplant, and the texture changes from crunchy to tender depending on how it's cooked. was given the task of cooking with okra during the ‘Lucky Dip’ immunity challenge, which saw contestants having to select two Hong Kong-inspired ingredients at random. After choosing to swap tapioca pearls for fear of making a dessert, Sav ended up with okra and shrimp paste.



“Okay I can work with that, nice,” she said after okra was revealed under her cloche. “There’s a lot I can do with this because I’m lucky enough to know how to work with this ingredient quite well.” Following a 75-minute cook, Sav served the judges a Malaysian-style barramundi yellow curry with charred okra and funky rice.

Judge praised the fish’s crispy skin and her creative use of the shrimp paste in the rice. Meanwhile, Jean-Christophe commended her use of okra as he admitted he isn’t normally a fan of the ingredient. “Okra is, for me, the most boring ingredient on the planet,” he confessed.

“Bu.

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