Gourmet on a budget: MasterChef Singapore winner launches Japanese stall in Singapore Poly

Just last May, Derek Cheong, the winner of Masterchef Singapore season two, opened a franchise hawker stall at Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre selling pizza. 

In under a year, the tenacious young man is already working on his new venture — a stall at Singapore Polytechnic called Tamagood. 

Derek, 26, first told the public about his new brainchild in a video on his Instagram page on Feb 15. 

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/C3XnCfOIXNA/[/embed]

It's a modern Japanese fusion concept that specialises in rice bowls and baked rice, which are enhanced with Derek's signature onsen egg sauce. 

"In Japanese, we call eggs 'tamago'. And then, I wanted to name the stall Tamagood because I want my eggs to be good," explained Derek. 

He shared that his onsen tamago sauce comes in three flavours and is meant to accompany his rice bowls. 

These rice bowls have various toppings like grilled chicken thigh, chicken skewers, salmon and beef bulgogi. 

For the baked rice, Derek came up with a special, homemade garlic butter cream sauce to enhance the flavour profile. 

"All of them are just jam-packed full of umami and lots of different flavours," said Derek. 

[[nid:672305]]

Speaking to AsiaOne, Derek shared that while he officially opened Tamagood earlier in January, he's been conceptualising the menu and branding since September 2023. 

"I want to provide simple, affordable and tasty food for the students there," he added.

Derek also explained why he chose to open his new venture in a polytechnic. 

"I decided to open a stall in a polytechnic because it’s a five-day work week — Monday to Friday — and I can dedicate my weekends to do private dining," he explained to us. 

For context, Derek runs a private dining concept called Flavourium. 

"Right now I work seven days a week with no rest. I plan my preparation for my private dining and spread the preparation from Mondays to Fridays to ease my workload."

And while he has a lot on his plate, Derek is still thinking of ways to grow the business. 

"I have plans to expand Tamagood to kiosk concepts or other food courts with different menu offerings," he revealed. 

His pizza stall at Pasir Ris also remains open but his father is managing the business. 

From Masterchef Singapore champion to business owner

Derek developed a passion for cooking when he was 19-years-old and the self-taught chef first learned how to do so from watching YouTube videos and reading cookbooks, shared an article on Blockchef. 

Later on, he picked up hands-on experience at Michelin-starred restaurants such as Zen and Mirazur. 

In 2021, he took a leap of faith and joined Masterchef Singapore season two. 

After becoming the winner, he left school to pursue his culinary dream full-time. 

Address: 500 Dover Rd, Singapore Polytechnic Food Court 4, Stall #4, Singapore 139651
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 10.30am to 6pm

No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.

ALSO READ: Your MasterChef favourites, where are they now?

melissateo@asiaone.com