Christine Ha: The Blind Chef That Competed for MasterChef And Shocked Gordon Ramsay | Goalcast

All of America, when they were watching, they all thought, how is this girl going to cook blind? I didn't know what to expect from Gordon Ramsay. That is disgusting. Visually, it looks like vomit. Congratulations. Thank you! The worst dish in this competition so far. All this hard work leading up to this moment, and it could be ruined in just a second. Welcome. Thank you. First name is? My name is Christine. Christine, you've got five minutes to complete that dish. Thank you. I don't know how I'm going to get the food on the plate. I can't see anything. I don't even know where the sink is. Just in front. Just in front? No, you were there, just a little bit higher, darling. OK, thank you. I hear the judges talking to me. I have no idea what their facial expressions are. Christine? Yes, Chef? Were you born blind? No, no, Chef. When I was maybe about 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with a- I'm sorry, can you tell me where I had put the green onion? The green onion. It's still in the bowl? Definitely nervous then. It should be right in front of you. It's right in front of me? Right in front of your hands. OK. The food that I grew up with was, in my childhood, sort of a source of embarrassment. And I think it made me feel different at school. People said, oh, something smells, or that looks weird. My mom and I would argue a lot. I think we would just verbally fight me wanting to be with my friends all the time. She was very protective of me. She actually never let me in the kitchen to cook with her. I did feel like I reflected a lot of my anger on her. I was about 12 or 13 years old when she was diagnosed with cancer. It didn't really register with me when I was told that. I thought surely my mom would beat the cancer and survive it and be fine moving forward. I remember I was taken out of school. My uncle had come to pick me up from school. He said, you need to go see your mom now. She was lying in the bed. She was hooked up to a lot of machines, so she couldn't talk. And I remember holding her hand and just telling her that it's OK to let go. I didn't think that a parent could die so soon. The pain was indescribable in my gut. You know, as much as I probably denied it then, she was the most important person in my life. After she had passed away, I realized my mom didn't write down any recipes, so I didn't have any of her recipes. To this day, I regret never having learned to cook from her. I just bought cookbooks, some pots and pans and knives, and read recipes word for word. Cooking, it's a way for me to connect to her and to honor her and her memory as well. Ever since, I've been trying to recreate her recipes. I love the fact you're tasting everything. I have to. I can't see. So I was about 19 or 20 years old. Starting to really excel at cooking, that's when I started losing vision in both of my eyes. Each time I would experience more vision loss, I would have to relearn how to do everything from the start, like how to use a knife again or use the stove or fry an egg. The year after that, I lost even more vision, and I had to feel my way around the kitchen. I thought I wouldn't be able to cook again. I decided to try to make myself a sandwich, and I thought, what simpler sandwich could I make than a peanut butter jelly sandwich? I remember getting the peanut butter and jelly all over the counter and not being able to align the two slices of bread together neatly. I remember throwing that sandwich away in the trash because I was so upset with myself, wondering would I ever be able to cook a meal again like I did before. And that's when I realized I had no other choice. I had to get back up and try again. I just started small, figured out how to cut fruit, then figured out how to scramble an egg again, doing it over and over again. The dish does need the sort of stability. It's a staple done beautifully, but missing the rice. Yes, Chef, I understand. I'm sorry. You know, you're going to be judged like everybody else in this competition. Yes, Chef. Your personal challenge aside, for me, that's one of the most delicious dishes I've tasted in this competition so far. Do you know what I'm going to give you? A white apron. Congratulations. Thank you. I made a lot of mistakes. I would burn things. I would miss the pan, lose food on my cutting board when I was chopping it. It's delicious. Thank you, Chef. It's fresh. It's fragrant. You cook every frickin' time like an angel. Good job. Thank you, Chef. Seriously. Cooking, it's a way for me to connect to her, to remember my mom. You should be incredibly proud. In the finale, I cooked dishes that reminded me of her. As you know, there can only be one winner. To have her strength with me. And that winner, Christine. When I cook, I feel like my mom's spirit is somewhere nearby. If my mom were still here today, I would ask her to teach me how to make her Vietnamese beef noodle soup. Although each time I cook it, it gets better and better, it still has yet to capture the memory of my mom. To me, it's kind of my white whale that I've been chasing and probably will chase for the rest of my life. Whether it's trying to get through challenges to win a cooking competition, to just trying to replicate my mom's beef noodle soup, you just have to try over and over until you succeed. Are you really blind? Yes, Chef, I am. Gee, you caused a stir out there, literally. Yeah, I didn't mean it, actually. Some hot water for Celebrity Chef Everyone thought, how is this girl going to cook blind? You're going to be judged like everybody else in this competition. Yes, Chef. Reggie, come here! Come here! Stop that! What we're serving.