Singapore pork satay master Ah Pui dies at age 66
Local hawker Ang Boon Ee, known to customers as Ah Pui, died on July 25 – three months after he began selling pork satay again at a new stall.
The 66-year-old was diagnosed with colon cancer two years ago, his son, Mr Ang Kai Cheng, 20, told The Straits Times. He said that his father had been in hospital for a month before he died.
Mr Ang Boon Ee started selling satay in 1976 from a pushcart, plying the streets of Tiong Bahru. He built a fan base for his pork satay, which featured chunks of pork interspersed with lard, to keep the meat juicy.
He grilled the skewers over charcoal and served them with peanut sauce made from scratch with a dollop of pineapple puree. He would also go to the homes of fans who hired him for parties.
In 2019, he partnered a former customer and others to sell satay from a cafe in Pearl’s Hill Terrace. In 2021, he teamed up with Mr Ang Thiam Seng, 57, who was his colleague at Pearl’s Hill Terrace, to open a satay stall in the Chinatown hawker centre in Smith Street. It closed in November 2022, because Mr Ang Boon Ee was not in good health.
Mr Ang, the business partner, says they opened Ah Pui Satay at 01-13, Block 75, Lorong 5 Toa Payoh, in April 2024. The pork satay is priced at $1 a stick.
He told ST: “I asked if he was okay to resume business, and he said he was. He was happy to be starting up again.”
Mr Ang says he considers Ah Pui his “sifu” or mentor. When the older man was hospitalised, Mr Ang would visit him on Mondays, the only day the stall is closed.
“I will miss him a lot,” he says. “He taught me all that he knew, he passed everything down to me.”
Just what made the satay so special?
Mr Ang says: “It’s unique, very traditional. You can’t find anything like it anywhere. Everything is handmade, the marination, the skewering. We make the sauce every day, we make the pineapple puree.”
He says Ah Pui Satay will be closed until July 28. From Tuesdays to Fridays, the stall is open from 5.30pm until the satay sells out, usually at 8 or 9pm. On weekends, the stall is open from 3pm until the satay sells out.
Mr Ang Boon Ee is survived by his wife, his son and 22-year-old daughter. His son says the focus will now be on Ah Pui Satay, and the family might look at how to grow the business.
The wake is at 92 Henderson Road, and the funeral is on July 27.
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