Penghu’s Hidden Gem Dish: Healthy, High-Value Oden Made with Fruit and Vegetable Broth

Text and photos byPaperclip. Food, Photography & Happiness

We took a quick weekend trip to Penghu with a friend. Thanks to him, we had a local friend who drove us around to eat and explore. Coming to Penghu at this time of year is really great — there are fewer tourists, the temperature is warmer than in Taipei, and although the wind is a bit strong, overall it’s pleasant and comfortable weather.

In the short time we were there, besides visiting spots like Qibei Mountain — where we saw the “Moses Parting the Sea” phenomenon — and beautiful beaches such as Shanshui Shili, which we hadn’t been to on previous trips, we also tried several memorable snacks. One of them was “Flower Mom’s Oden,” which we highly recommend.

Flower Mom’s Oden is located along County Highway 203 near Dongwei Reservoir. The most obvious landmark nearby is probably the 7-11 diagonally across the street. The stall is very small, and you might easily miss it if you’re driving too fast. As a result, there’s no signboard — just a red sign hanging above the stall that reads “Flower Mom’s Pork Intestine Sausage.”

Our guide told us how he found out about this delicious oden spot: Flower Mom’s husband works in cement construction and had done some work at their house. He had previously been seriously ill, and our friend often gave them organic vegetables from their own garden. Once, the cement worker mentioned that his wife runs an oden stall along this road, also selling grilled sausages, rice sausage, and flying fish roe sausages. That’s when our friend noticed this little stall — otherwise, you’d never see it while driving by ^^

Originally, Flower Mom ran the business alone. Aside from some oden ingredients that she buys wholesale from the market, everything else — including sausages, rice sausages, bitter melon rolls, and cabbage rolls — is handmade and stuffed by her. Even better, the broth is simmered with apples and onions. Because the ingredients are hearty, wholesome, and healthy, the business does very well. Her son, who originally worked in a factory, saw how busy his mom was and decided to quit his job to help run the little stall.

Flower Mom probably starts business around noon. We arrived around 2 PM, and the oden pot had already been replenished once, which shows just how popular it is. This also means the food sells quickly, so it’s always very fresh.

Flower Mom handles the grilled sausages, while her cool son takes care of the oden. It was impressive watching him deftly chop up the oden we ordered, even removing the fattier parts from the pork intestines — such attentive service.

As for the price... it’s really cheap, isn’t it?

You can have free soup with your oden, but you can also order it separately.

A serving of pork intestine wrapped sausage is only 40 NT.

We brought a pot with us to buy some food and got two servings of pork intestines and sausages. Flower Mom added pickled mustard greens for us — and upon closer look, we noticed she also stir-fried some tofu with the greens.

This big pot, plus the sausages and intestines we already had, came to just 580 NT. There were five of us adults, and we still had leftovers for a second meal. The oden was served with plenty of broth and sprinkled with lots of chopped green onions. We also packed some garlic and Flower Mom’s spicy sauce to go.

This bowl of oden, filled with heart and soul, had every ingredient tasting great, and the broth had a naturally sweet flavor.

When we went to buy, the bitter melon rolls and cabbage rolls had sold out by lunchtime because they were so popular, so our friend picked up a few to cook later at home using a pressure electric cooker for 20 minutes. Before slicing, the cabbage rolls were about as thick as an average person’s wrist, and the bitter melon rolls were roughly palm-sized.

Every time I visit Taiwan’s outlying islands, I’m deeply captivated and start thinking about retiring there. The last time I went to Kinmen was like this, and this trip to Penghu was the same.

[info]
Flower Mom’s Pork Intestine Sausage & Oden
North Ring Road, Penghu, County Hwy 203 (near Dongwei Reservoir, diagonally across from a 7-11)
0921-589510
Approx. noon–6:00 PM (best to call to confirm)

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