The past year has been a whirlwind for MasterChef Singapore Season 4 runner-up Tina Amin.
Since the competition aired in August 2023, the 44-year-old, who runs the decade-old home-based bakery and catering business Tina Indulgence, has quit her job at F&B company Regale and started her first hawker venture.
Called Santapan Padang, which means Padang feast, the Muslim-owned nasi padang stall is located in a coffeeshop in Ubi. She runs the joint, which opened in August, with her parents. Her husband, Bahrein, 42, who handles import and export of cargo in the shipping industry, helps out occasionally. The couple have three kids, a 24-year-old daughter and sons, aged 23 and 14.
Tina runs the stall with her parents. (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
Opening a nasi padang business has been a longtime dream of Tina’s. She began her culinary career at 18, working at her parents’ nasi padang eatery Clifford Pier Food Corner at Raffles Place for almost a decade in the noughties before it had to make way for The Fullerton Bay Hotel. So starting Santapan Padang was her way of continuing her family’s legacy.
Post-MasterChef, Tina, whose resume includes lead baker at The Malayan Council, had planned to take her time to build up her culinary portfolio in the industry, before opening a nasi padang shop five years later. However, she had to put the wheels in motion a lot sooner after she was diagnosed with kidney failure in October 2023.
Tina experienced very bad backaches while filming MasterChef, but she brushed it aside thinking she was just tired. The pain persisted after the competition, and it was only after she had a check-up after fainting from a fall that she learned that she had kidney failure.
“The doctor told me my left kidney is bloated and that it’s not functioning anymore. I have a lot of kidney stones and they are covering my blood vessels. Apparently, the stones have been there for a long time, possibly 10 years. I was shocked,” shares Tina, adding that she also has hypertension, and her blood pressure is so high that she could “get a stroke anytime”.
Though Tina goes for regular health check-ups, they did not detect kidney problems.
Tina preparing food at her stall. (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
According to Tina, she is “past end-stage kidney failure” and there is “nothing the doctors can do” about her condition. The only solution is to get a transplant, but she is not on the transplant list.
“Because I still have my right kidney,” she reasons. Currently, her right kidney is doing “double work”, and Tina says it’s important that she stays healthy, takes care of what she eats and not exert herself.
“At best, I can live for 10 years,” she says calmly.
Despite her health struggles, Tina remains in good spirits and is a picture of strength. When opening up about her health battles, her voice does not quiver, and she does not tear.
She shares that she has come to terms with her illness and her priority now is to live life to the fullest: “I just do whatever I want. Even if I earn S$1,000 less than when I was working a full-time job, I am happier as I enjoy what I am doing.”
While she still has the occasional backache, Tina says running her business is less hectic than her previous job, where she would sometimes clock 15-hour days. Now, she rests whenever she feels tired and leaves the heavy lifting to her husband.
Some of the dishes at Santapan Padang. (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
Santapan Padang offers around 20 nasi padang dishes daily, all whipped up by Tina and her mum. The menu is given a little variation daily but mainstays like beef rendang and sambal goreng are always available. A plate of rice with a main, vegetables and a side will cost you S$6.50 (US$5), while a la carte nasi padang dishes start from S$1.50 for veggies to S$3.50 for premium offerings such as oxtail asam pedas.
They also have a daily breakfast menu of mee soto, lontong, mee siam and nasi lemak pandan, all priced at S$4.
On Fridays, the stall offers biryani instead of nasi padang. Prices start from S$6.50 for chicken biryani to S$7.50 for the mutton version.
If you’re planning to head down for lunch, be sure to drop by early as most of the dishes were sold out when we visited the stall at around 1pm on a weekday. Despite the stall’s popularity, Tina says things were very different when they first opened.
“During my first week, no one ate my food ‘cause it was too ‘Indonesian’. Most of the customers are Chinese nationals and Malaysians so they are not familiar with Padang food like jackfruit opor (jackfruit curry) and oxtail asam pedas,” shares Tina.
She tweaked her menu to cater to customers and now around half of her offerings are “localised dishes” like sambal kang kong and fried hotdogs with potato.
Beef rendang (S$3). (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
Tina was dubbed “makcik rempah” on MasterChef and for good reason. The flavours here are dialled up to pack a punch. Cooked Padang-style, slightly on the drier side, beef chunks are braised in coconut milk seasoned with lots of spices and aromatics such as lemongrass and galangal for three hours until they are infused with all the piquant flavours of the rich, mildly spicy gravy. Every bite is a flavour bomb but the beef could be more tender.
Oxtail assam pedas (S$3.50 for three pieces). (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
Despite its name, this tastes nothing like the tangy, spicy asam pedas dishes we are used to. The flavours are complex with savouriness from the oxtail chunks and heady aromatics from the spice mix consisting of fennel, mustard seed, cumin, and more. Though not the fall-off-the-bone variety, the oxtail, which is equal parts meaty and fatty, is nicely tender. Not available daily so DM Tina to check before heading down.
Ayam bakar (S$4.50). (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
The ayam bakar, or grilled chicken, is also a winner. The chicken leg is simmered in rempah and then left to marinate in the paste for at least four hours to absorb all the flavours, before it is grilled with kecap manis (sweet soya sauce) in banana leaf.
The result is tender, juicy char-studded chicken infused with smoky flavour from the banana leaf. Available as a set with rice and salad for S$6.50. Only sold on Fridays.
Nasi lemak pandan (S$4). (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
Santapan Padang’s signature and breakfast best-seller. Our nasi lemak comes with pandan-infused rice, fried chicken wing, hard-boiled egg, cucumber slices, sambal, and sides of fried ikan bilis and peanuts.
Instead of heavily coconutty rice, the grains here are subtly perfumed with pandan. To let the pandan flavour shine, Tina steams jasmine rice with fresh pandan juice, “diluted santan (coconut milk)” and ginger slices. The star is the punchy sweet-spicy sambal, made primarily with chillies, belacan (shrimp paste) and udang geragau (dried baby shrimp), and shiok crisp-crusted fried chicken wing.
Beef Tendon Curry (S$3.50). (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
Beef tendon bathed in a fiery, creamy curry-like gravy amped up with cloves and turmeric. The collagen-rich tendon boasts a gelatinous mouthfeel and bouncy bite, but some bits were a bit thick and chewy.
We’re fans of robust flavours and Santapan Padang’s richly spiced offerings more than hit the spot. We recommend coming down with a group of friends so you can order a variety of dishes to share, especially less commonly found Padang fare like oxtail assam pedas. The deliciously smoky ayam bakar is also a must-try.
Santapan Padang is at Frontier, 50 Ubi Avenue 3, Singapore 408866. Open Mon-Fri, 8am to 3pm.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
Continue reading...
Since the competition aired in August 2023, the 44-year-old, who runs the decade-old home-based bakery and catering business Tina Indulgence, has quit her job at F&B company Regale and started her first hawker venture.
Called Santapan Padang, which means Padang feast, the Muslim-owned nasi padang stall is located in a coffeeshop in Ubi. She runs the joint, which opened in August, with her parents. Her husband, Bahrein, 42, who handles import and export of cargo in the shipping industry, helps out occasionally. The couple have three kids, a 24-year-old daughter and sons, aged 23 and 14.
Tina runs the stall with her parents. (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
Opening a nasi padang business has been a longtime dream of Tina’s. She began her culinary career at 18, working at her parents’ nasi padang eatery Clifford Pier Food Corner at Raffles Place for almost a decade in the noughties before it had to make way for The Fullerton Bay Hotel. So starting Santapan Padang was her way of continuing her family’s legacy.
Post-MasterChef, Tina, whose resume includes lead baker at The Malayan Council, had planned to take her time to build up her culinary portfolio in the industry, before opening a nasi padang shop five years later. However, she had to put the wheels in motion a lot sooner after she was diagnosed with kidney failure in October 2023.
Tina experienced very bad backaches while filming MasterChef, but she brushed it aside thinking she was just tired. The pain persisted after the competition, and it was only after she had a check-up after fainting from a fall that she learned that she had kidney failure.
“The doctor told me my left kidney is bloated and that it’s not functioning anymore. I have a lot of kidney stones and they are covering my blood vessels. Apparently, the stones have been there for a long time, possibly 10 years. I was shocked,” shares Tina, adding that she also has hypertension, and her blood pressure is so high that she could “get a stroke anytime”.
Though Tina goes for regular health check-ups, they did not detect kidney problems.
Tina preparing food at her stall. (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
According to Tina, she is “past end-stage kidney failure” and there is “nothing the doctors can do” about her condition. The only solution is to get a transplant, but she is not on the transplant list.
“Because I still have my right kidney,” she reasons. Currently, her right kidney is doing “double work”, and Tina says it’s important that she stays healthy, takes care of what she eats and not exert herself.
“At best, I can live for 10 years,” she says calmly.
Despite her health struggles, Tina remains in good spirits and is a picture of strength. When opening up about her health battles, her voice does not quiver, and she does not tear.
She shares that she has come to terms with her illness and her priority now is to live life to the fullest: “I just do whatever I want. Even if I earn S$1,000 less than when I was working a full-time job, I am happier as I enjoy what I am doing.”
While she still has the occasional backache, Tina says running her business is less hectic than her previous job, where she would sometimes clock 15-hour days. Now, she rests whenever she feels tired and leaves the heavy lifting to her husband.
Some of the dishes at Santapan Padang. (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
Santapan Padang offers around 20 nasi padang dishes daily, all whipped up by Tina and her mum. The menu is given a little variation daily but mainstays like beef rendang and sambal goreng are always available. A plate of rice with a main, vegetables and a side will cost you S$6.50 (US$5), while a la carte nasi padang dishes start from S$1.50 for veggies to S$3.50 for premium offerings such as oxtail asam pedas.
They also have a daily breakfast menu of mee soto, lontong, mee siam and nasi lemak pandan, all priced at S$4.
On Fridays, the stall offers biryani instead of nasi padang. Prices start from S$6.50 for chicken biryani to S$7.50 for the mutton version.
If you’re planning to head down for lunch, be sure to drop by early as most of the dishes were sold out when we visited the stall at around 1pm on a weekday. Despite the stall’s popularity, Tina says things were very different when they first opened.
“During my first week, no one ate my food ‘cause it was too ‘Indonesian’. Most of the customers are Chinese nationals and Malaysians so they are not familiar with Padang food like jackfruit opor (jackfruit curry) and oxtail asam pedas,” shares Tina.
She tweaked her menu to cater to customers and now around half of her offerings are “localised dishes” like sambal kang kong and fried hotdogs with potato.
Beef rendang (S$3). (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
BEEF RENDANG, S$3
Tina was dubbed “makcik rempah” on MasterChef and for good reason. The flavours here are dialled up to pack a punch. Cooked Padang-style, slightly on the drier side, beef chunks are braised in coconut milk seasoned with lots of spices and aromatics such as lemongrass and galangal for three hours until they are infused with all the piquant flavours of the rich, mildly spicy gravy. Every bite is a flavour bomb but the beef could be more tender.
Oxtail assam pedas (S$3.50 for three pieces). (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
OXTAIL ASAM PEDAS, S$3.50 FOR THREE PIECES
Despite its name, this tastes nothing like the tangy, spicy asam pedas dishes we are used to. The flavours are complex with savouriness from the oxtail chunks and heady aromatics from the spice mix consisting of fennel, mustard seed, cumin, and more. Though not the fall-off-the-bone variety, the oxtail, which is equal parts meaty and fatty, is nicely tender. Not available daily so DM Tina to check before heading down.
Ayam bakar (S$4.50). (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
AYAM BAKAR, S$4.50
The ayam bakar, or grilled chicken, is also a winner. The chicken leg is simmered in rempah and then left to marinate in the paste for at least four hours to absorb all the flavours, before it is grilled with kecap manis (sweet soya sauce) in banana leaf.
The result is tender, juicy char-studded chicken infused with smoky flavour from the banana leaf. Available as a set with rice and salad for S$6.50. Only sold on Fridays.
Nasi lemak pandan (S$4). (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
NASI LEMAK PANDAN, S$4
Santapan Padang’s signature and breakfast best-seller. Our nasi lemak comes with pandan-infused rice, fried chicken wing, hard-boiled egg, cucumber slices, sambal, and sides of fried ikan bilis and peanuts.
Instead of heavily coconutty rice, the grains here are subtly perfumed with pandan. To let the pandan flavour shine, Tina steams jasmine rice with fresh pandan juice, “diluted santan (coconut milk)” and ginger slices. The star is the punchy sweet-spicy sambal, made primarily with chillies, belacan (shrimp paste) and udang geragau (dried baby shrimp), and shiok crisp-crusted fried chicken wing.
Beef Tendon Curry (S$3.50). (Photo: 8Days/Aik Chen)
GULAI KIKIL (BEEF TENDON CURRY), S$3.50
Beef tendon bathed in a fiery, creamy curry-like gravy amped up with cloves and turmeric. The collagen-rich tendon boasts a gelatinous mouthfeel and bouncy bite, but some bits were a bit thick and chewy.
We’re fans of robust flavours and Santapan Padang’s richly spiced offerings more than hit the spot. We recommend coming down with a group of friends so you can order a variety of dishes to share, especially less commonly found Padang fare like oxtail assam pedas. The deliciously smoky ayam bakar is also a must-try.
Santapan Padang is at Frontier, 50 Ubi Avenue 3, Singapore 408866. Open Mon-Fri, 8am to 3pm.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
Continue reading...