Adam Liaw: from law in Adelaide to 'MasterChef Australia' 2010 win and cooking up television profile on SBS Food
The Cook Up with Adam Liaw. a nightly programme on SBS Food channel, further boosted the former South Australian lawyer's national profile after his 2010 MasterChef Australia win. The Cook Up show featured guests including (at right) chef Colin Fassnidge and television/radio personality Yumi Stynes.
Images by Jiwon Kim, courtesy SBS television
Adelaide lawyer Adam Liaw had his ingredients of intelligence, worldview, personality and humour show their full flavour through a life-changing switch after winning 2010 MasterChef Australia.
Born in Penang, Malaysia, in 1978 to a Malaysian-Chinese father Dr Siaw-Lin Liaw and Singaporea -born English mother Dr Joyce Hill, Liaw moved to Adelaide when he was three. After his parents divorced and his mother moved to New Zealand, Liaw lived with his paternal grandmother – a huge influence on his cooking and his life.
Liaw completed Year 11 at Adelaide’s Prince Alfred College and enrolled in university at 16. He graduated with a double degree in science and law from Adelaide University at 21. Liaw joined Kelly & Co Lawyers in Adelaide, working in technology, commercial/corporate law, business advisory and international trade. He also was a committee member, legal adviser and secretary of the Hong Kong Australia Business Association, helping South Australian companies expand their business into Hong Kong and mainland China. In 2004, Liaw moved to Japan to work in media law for the Walt Disney Company.
In 2009, Liaw decided to audition for for the second season of MasterChef Australia and became the first challenger awarded a place in the grand final in 2010. In the most-watched non-sporting Australian television event, Liaw defeated another South Australian, Callum Hann, to win the title. The win opened opportunities including opening an izakaya restaurant with Tokyo-based Australian chef and friend Matthew Crabbe. He returned to MasterChef Australia as a guest judge for seasons 4 and 6.
Liaw had his first cookbook,Two Asian Kitchens – with recipes of his upbringing and new creations – published in 2011. Later cookbooks included Asian After Work (2013), Adam's Big Pot (2014), Asian Cookery School (2015) andThe Zen Kitchen (2016). He also wrote for Fairfax newspapers' Good Food, Sunday Life magazine, The Guardian and the Wall Street Journal’s Scene Asia.
Liaw was a host on travel/food television show Destination Flavour on the SBS (Special Broadcasting System) Australian network in 2012. This was followed by being sole host for SBS Food series Destination Flavour: Japan (2013), Destination Flavour: Down Under (2014) Destination Flavour: Scandinavia ( 2016), Destination Flavour: Singapore (2017), Hidden Japan with Adam Liaw (2017) and Destination Flavour: China (2018), In 2020, Liaw hosted Adam Liaw's Road Trip for Good.
In the biggest commission of 400 episodes made by SBS, Liaw started hosting a nightly talk and cooking show, The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, on its Food channel in 2021 (into its fourth season in 2024), The series had Liaw chatting and cooking with varied guests including Colin Fassidge, Julie Goodwin, Jock Zonfrillo, Yumi Stynes, Jessica Rowe and Jimmy Barnes.
Also in 2021, Liaw teamed up with first season MasterChef Australia runnerup Poh Ling Yeow, also from South Australia, to present Adam and Poh’s Malaysia in Australia, exploring their shared Malaysian heritage.
Liaw became UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) Australia national ambassador for nutrition and was appointed by the Japanese government in 2026 as a goodwill ambassador of Japanese cuisine and was on the board of the Australia-Japan Foundation. In 2017, Liaw was named All Nippon Airways culinary ambassador for ANA Australia. In May 2022, Liaw launched a seven-part podcast series on Audible called How Taste Changed the World.