masterchef melissa eric

‘MasterChef’ Viewers Are Praising Melissa For Her Emotional Moment With Eric

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Melissa Leong truly pulled at the heartstrings last night on MasterChef, after she broke down in tears when tasting a dish that reminded her of her culture.

As returning contestant Eric Mao battled it out for a spot back in the competition, he presented a traditional Chinese dish of tea-smoked eggs, with cold tofu in spring onion dressing, along with fried peanuts with seaweed.

Upon tasting the dish, Melissa immediately got emotional. “What we have here is an opportunity, with cooking like this on this level, is to tell stories and to share our history,” she started, before breaking into tears. “I watched Jock plating up and I could smell the smells and I started to really feel it, let me just try to get through this.”

She continued, “Starting with the peanuts. It’s just such a Chinese thing no matter where it’s been spread across the world,” Melissa said before praising Eric’s dish. She finishes by telling Eric, “My heart’s beating. It’s history. It’s meaning. It’s life. So, thank you.”

It was super emotional to watch.

Watch the scene for yourself below:

Honestly, we are so damn lucky to have Melissa as a judge on this show. Contestant Trent Vu tweeted about the moment and shared his experiences finding pride in his Chinese heritage due to watching Asian contestants on MasterChef.

Viewers are feeling grateful that we are blessed with Melissa as a judge on this show: