Liya Chu shares the secrets of ‘MasterChef Junior’

“We filmed the finale in 2019,” she says. “When people would ask if the show was going to come out, I’d just say, ‘I don’t even know.’”

Eventually, friends stopped asking. The trophy she won? It arrived a few days before the finale aired last week. The Viking kitchen and the trip to Las Vegas? They’re still on hold – but for good reason. Chu will be on tour with a “MasterChef Junior” stage show that will navigate the country in September and October.

While opening her own restaurant is still a goal, the 13-going-on-14-year-old Chu has other interests. “I like golf now – I’m very into that – and I’m also into the arts because I like to paint and draw.”

Cooking still happens, usually at nights. “I always try to cook with my mom for dinner times,” Chu says during a Zoom interview. “I like making dumplings…but I’m not doing it as much as I used to.”

Watching herself on television was “weird,” but “it was a wonderful and very unique experience. I wouldn’t want to trade it for anything.”

Getting to the finals wasn’t a goal. “When I was in the Top 16, I was so nervous. When you see it on TV, it’s so different from being there in person.”

While host Gordon Ramsay was hardly the tyrant he appears on his shows (“he’s a teddy bear”), he did set a pace that was often hard to maintain. Working alongside him, for example, was difficult. “That’s something adults also struggled with. You can’t overlook the fact that just because we’re kids it’s going to be easier.”

Cooking with others watching isn’t easy, either. The point, Chu says, is to stay focused on the task at hand.

“Don’t look at the dishes that your friends made and compare them to yours. Otherwise you think, ‘I might leave tonight.’”

Meltdowns happen…they’re just a part of cooking. But if you’re around someone who’s having a tough time, put the intensity on hold. “If I saw somebody crying, I’d rather go over and comfort them than deal with something that was burning on the stove,” Chu says.

Grayson Price, the other finalist, was extremely focused. “I’ve never heard someone talk about cooking like that – strategically. He was definitely very dedicated to cooking. The way he talks about it is just adult level.”

The other contestants? Ever the diplomat, Chu says “we would hope that it would be an all-girls team because we worked so well together. For some people, it’s harder to work as a group.”

While the Scarsdale, New York, resident had plenty of experience working with family members (her parents own restaurants), she knew a good background was essential, particularly if things went wrong.

“You can’t second-guess yourself,” Chu says. “But you have to take risks.”

If she knew a certain dish wasn’t quite right, she relied on visuals. “Usually, people eat with their eyes,” so it’s all about plating. “If it doesn’t taste the best, try to plate it and make it look better. Lighting is always the key.”