Chinese Navy Ration (Dinner)

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Kays1968
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Chinese Navy Ration (Dinner)

Post by Kays1968 » Mon Jun 15, 2020 10:35 pm

Last year I ordered two of these, and received what appeared to be two of the same item. I gave one away, hoping to see a review on it eventually. Yesterday I was craving some Chinese, so this morning I pulled this one out for lunch. Translations by Google Translate....
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"Navy Self-Heating Food (Dinner) Produced by the Naval Quartermaster Special Food Trial Production Department"

Now, I'm not sure about the legitimacy of this ration. I suspect that China, like Russia, produces rations that appeal to non-military folk both nationally and internationally. I did spend some time down the rabbit-hole trying to find more information on this one, with no success. So, I'm just presenting this one with no assumptions.....
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"Food assembly food heating bag (main, second food, heater), egg soup, tray, water injection bag, tableware, napkin"

"Pay attention to moisture. Pay attention to ventilation. Avoid open flame. Safe food."
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"Navy self-heating food is the latest generation of field fast food developed by our army. It has the advantages of good food acceptance, small heater size, light weight, high thermal efficiency, long heat generation duration, no open flame, safe and reliable, and no pollution to the environment. It is mainly for the individual soldiers to eat under field conditions. The biggest feature is that it can eat delicious hot food in a short time, and it's calories can meet the needs of moderate military labor intensity."
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"Menu Combination: Shitake Mushroom Noodles, 300 gr., 1 bag. Four Fresh Fragrant Dried, 200 gr., 1 bag. Tomato Egg Soup, 8 gr., 1 bag. Napkins, cutlery, water injection bag, 1 set."

"Open the side cover of the carton, pull out the tray, and take out the water injection bag, tableware, egg soup , and so on. Tear the green food heating bag along the tear, add water to the water injection bag to the position of the water injection line, and evenly pour it into the food heating bag. Turn the food heating bag after adding water several times. Be careful not to let the water flow out. Fold the bag up and place it in the tray. Push the tray into the carton, close the side cover,let it stand, and turn over every 3 minutes. Be careful not to let the water flow out. The food can be eaten after 15-20 minutes."

"Precautions: Food heating agent is non-toxic, it is forbidden to eat. The remaining water in the food heating bag is forbidden to drink. The heating process produces high temperatures, beware of hot hands!"

"Shelf life 2 years and 6 months Production date 2018/11/05"

Ok, so on to the unboxing. According to the labels, there's a shitake mushroom noodle main, a side of some sort of combination stuff (four fresh fragrant dried, what is that?), and a dried soup cube. When I unpacked it, the tray was broken in shipping, but everything else looked like it made the trip intact.
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A nice FRH, loaded with both mains and two heater packs.
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Individual component reviews to follow tomorrow, after I get some sleep.....

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Kays1968
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Re: Chinese Navy Ration (Dinner)

Post by Kays1968 » Tue Jun 16, 2020 10:19 am

So, while I waited for the massive FRH to finish blowing up, I started in on the soup cube.
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It's listed as "egg soup". In cube form it was very styrofoam-esque, with bits of green onion, some clearly discernible egg bits, and a faint orange tint that hinted of the possibility of tomatoes or heat. The dry cube had a faint vegetable/cardboard smell. A small taste was very dry, very salty, and slightly sour.
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After adding about a cup of water, the cube easily dissolved into a brothy soup filled with lots of egg bits, small diced onion and green onions.
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The flavor was very reminiscent of Chinese takeout hot and sour soup. Very tangy, fairly salty, with a faint chicken and tomato broth flavor. No heat to speak of. The biggest difference would be that hot and sour soup has a fuller mouthfeel, while this broth was very watery. Not in taste, but in feel. Overall, it had a nice amount of "stuff" to chew on, and a passably decent flavor.

It occurred to me while I was finishing the soup that even though this ration doesn't come with any beverages, the soup cube does a perfectly acceptable job of filling the liquid requirement. Also, I find that I enjoy these Chinese freeze-dried soups much better than the bouillon cubes or powdered mixes you find in so many other rations.

Next, on to the main event.....

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Kays1968
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Re: Chinese Navy Ration (Dinner)

Post by Kays1968 » Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:29 am

The FRH that comes with this ration, like all of the Chinese FRH's I have seen so far, is an absolute powerhouse. The two heat packs had no problem bringing two large mains to a temp that was almost too hot to eat. After 20 minutes of activity, water was still bubbling in the inflated bag.
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The larger main was 300 grams of shiitake noodles. "Wheat flour, pork, vegetable oil, shiitake mushroom, onions, peppers, edible salt, white sugar, chicken essence, soy sauce." After kneading the package a bit to break up the noodles, they poured out looking very tasty...
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The noodles were perfectly done, with a bit of a chew, not soggy at all. The mushrooms were very meaty, with a deep, rich mushroom flavor. The pork bits were well cooked, but a bit chewy. Also present in the noodles were undefinable red threads that had the appearance and texture of dried red pepper peel. They were hard, dry, and chewy, with no discernible flavor. The overall flavor of the dish was outstanding; a salty soy and mushroom broth. Often, the Chinese rice and noodle mains tend to be bland, and I had my soy sauce at the ready, but this one was perfect and need nothing.
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The second main was a 200 gram blend of tofu and vegetables. "Dried incense, winter bamboo shoots, mushrooms, daylily, seasoning." I assume the "Dried incense" should have translated as tofu, because that was the majority of strips in the mix.
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Oddly enough, even though the ingredients don't list pepper, this mix had those same dry red flavorless threads.
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This mix was very good, and extremely flavorful. It was salty and deeply flavored with Chinese five spice and soy. The tofu strips were dense and chewy, and the vegetables were crisp.
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Overall, the lunch was fantastic and flavorful. The only criticism I might have is minimal, just that the two mains were flavored very differently, and didn't quite mesh as one flavor profile. That's really more an observation than a complaint though, because I finished every_last_bite of this meal. Excellent.
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Thanks for sticking with me. Stay safe and stay sane......

Jim_M1988
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Re: Chinese Navy Ration (Dinner)

Post by Jim_M1988 » Wed Jun 17, 2020 12:38 pm

Really enjoyed that. Cool review. :).

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