chitoryu12 posted:Russian stuff Oh hey how about that you and I have the exact same coffee mug. Drinking from mine right now.
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Feb 29, 2016 16:07
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chitoryu12 posted:Russian 24-Hour Ration I can't get over how disgusting that is. Literally makes me nauseous just looking at it.
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Feb 29, 2016 17:06
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Discendo Vox posted:Is it possible that you were supposed to cook/heat the bacon you got in the Russian ration? I did. The pictures of it cut apart are after cooking. It looks exactly the same. Ensign Expendable posted:The second meat dish you had was chicken and rice. The third one is goulash and potatoes. The ration you liked the least is GMO free and free of artificial flavours! Looks like GMOs are pretty great, eh? Also, as mentioned above, these dishes are supposed to be heated before being served. I'm sure it will make them a lot more tolerable. I made sure to heat all of them. I just microwaved them instead of using the (rather questionable) folding stove and fuel tablets. quote:As said above, the "cheap butter" was actually a cheese spread. I've had it before, and it has about as much to do with cheese as Cheez Whiz, although the one you have actually has milk products in it. This kind of scares me, as it tasted almost exactly like butter. quote:Curiously, while many items in that pack are good for three years, quite a few are only good for two years. You would think that an army ration would have more uniform expiration dates. I did notice that the ration's box gave an expiration of mid 2016, two years after manufacture. I guess they just took the lowest estimate based on all the items. Phil Moscowitz posted:I can't get over how disgusting that is. Literally makes me nauseous just looking at it. It tastes like it looks. It's "meat" in name only and actually tastes like fat and salt. Disgustingly, it's so greasy that it coats the inside of your mouth with a film of grease after eating it.
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Feb 29, 2016 19:33
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chitoryu12 posted:This kind of scares me, as it tasted almost exactly like butter.
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Feb 29, 2016 19:37
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My Lovely Horse posted:Would you say you can't believe it isn't? ....correct.
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Feb 29, 2016 22:10
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Phil Moscowitz posted:I can't get over how disgusting that is. Literally makes me nauseous just looking at it. I love the picture on the tin. Like you open it and there's this beautiful red steak waiting for you to grill it up.
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Mar 1, 2016 01:57
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Also, make note of the liquid in the bowl after cooking. That wasn't liquid in the can. That's melted fat.
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Mar 1, 2016 02:02
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I really appreciate this thread, the pictures and the descriptions. It's a great read.
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Mar 1, 2016 03:02
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When you're opening those cans and pouches... what is the SMELL really like? Is it like wet cat food where you're better off having never ever opened it?
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Mar 1, 2016 14:17
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FetusSlapper posted:When you're opening those cans and pouches... what is the SMELL really like? Is it like wet cat food where you're better off having never ever opened it? I don't think any of them have been quite like cat food. In fact, the rice and chicken and tourist's breakfast didn't really have much discernible smell unless I put my nose to them. The goulash did have a noticeable tomato smell, though. That's probably one of the few positives.
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Mar 1, 2016 17:36
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Ensign Expendable posted:The crystal drink isn't supposed to be apple. From the image on the package, it looks like a mix of various Russian berries. I don't know their names since they don't grow here, but the big one with leaves on the left makes a quite good herbal tea. Rose hip, I think.
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Mar 1, 2016 18:03
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I haven't eaten anything except the chocolate bar yet, but I've opened and inventoried the Danish ration:quote:* Orifo dehydrated cheese-topped potatoes It's an interesting package, totaling 4035 calories. It's a 24-hour ration that almost entirely consists of snacks. It does include a flameless ration heater, but no retort pouches to actually put in it. The accessory packet includes tea and freeze-dried coffee as well.
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Mar 2, 2016 07:15
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This thread has been brought to you with limited commercial interruptions by Orifo.
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Mar 2, 2016 07:59
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Also, Orifo provides much of the food for British rations as well. British and Danish are quite similar except for the smaller number of items and lack of proper entrees. Edit: Since I just paid off my PayPal Credit in full, I decided to buy myself a Polish ration! It should be here in a few weeks. I have the chance to buy Spanish and French rations as well, but both are as expensive or more than the Polish one after shipping. chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 08:15 on Mar 2, 2016 |
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Mar 2, 2016 08:09
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I would recommend the Korean and Estonian rations as being by far the best food quality. We used to take them backpacking before the current survivalist craze raised the price of all rations and MRE's by something like 200% over the length of the Obama administration. The Estonian ones are a little Eastern European in their bent but they usually come with a variety of stews and lots of different meat products, not the greatest but still better than something like a tin of Dinty Moore you'd get at a real store. When I used to do ultralight we would take those lifeboat rations and those are really heavy on the stomach. You want something that will make you not poo poo for days, those are the ticket. If anyone is curious about what they look like, they were the basis for the bars of concentrated food that they eat in Firefly sometimes. I gave up eating those after one time we got stuck in the mountains down in AZ and had to survive on those for several days, very unpleasant. The Japanese ones were pretty bad too, we bought them because the local military surplus store got a huge order and was trying to clearance them fast. They come with a bunch of different crackers/cookies that all taste the same (like sugary tissue paper) and a packet rice meal thing that varies from vaguely pleasant (the beef one) to obscene (some kind of spicy chicken or pork dish I believe). I'd eat the curry flavor Korean one's just as a meal in my normal house they are that tasty.
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Mar 4, 2016 09:14
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El Estrago Bonito posted:I would recommend the Korean and Estonian rations as being by far the best food quality. We used to take them backpacking before the current survivalist craze raised the price of all rations and MRE's by something like 200% over the length of the Obama administration. The Estonian ones are a little Eastern European in their bent but they usually come with a variety of stews and lots of different meat products, not the greatest but still better than something like a tin of Dinty Moore you'd get at a real store. When I used to do ultralight we would take those lifeboat rations and those are really heavy on the stomach. You want something that will make you not poo poo for days, those are the ticket. If anyone is curious about what they look like, they were the basis for the bars of concentrated food that they eat in Firefly sometimes. I gave up eating those after one time we got stuck in the mountains down in AZ and had to survive on those for several days, very unpleasant. The Japanese ones were pretty bad too, we bought them because the local military surplus store got a huge order and was trying to clearance them fast. They come with a bunch of different crackers/cookies that all taste the same (like sugary tissue paper) and a packet rice meal thing that varies from vaguely pleasant (the beef one) to obscene (some kind of spicy chicken or pork dish I believe). I'd eat the curry flavor Korean one's just as a meal in my normal house they are that tasty. Yeah, I experienced one of those lifeboat rations in apple-cinnamon and couldn't come close to finishing it. Even if I was a big apple-cinnamon fan, it's just incredibly dense and hard enough that you could beat someone to death with it. Are those packs of bibimbap and stuff on eBay legit Korean rations? I know that Korea has a huge obsession with military MREs to the point of a black market in them, so I was concerned about accidentally buying civilian food made for that market.
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Mar 4, 2016 18:49
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chitoryu12 posted:Yeah, I experienced one of those lifeboat rations in apple-cinnamon and couldn't come close to finishing it. Even if I was a big apple-cinnamon fan, it's just incredibly dense and hard enough that you could beat someone to death with it. Well, the picture on that page says "good until 2014" soooooooo Either way the packets don't have the eagle mark and the 군용 letters that signify it was made for military use, but I can't say for certain whether that means they're inauthentic. Someone who's been in the Korean military might be able to clarify.
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Mar 4, 2016 19:10
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chitoryu12 posted:Yeah, I experienced one of those lifeboat rations in apple-cinnamon and couldn't come close to finishing it. Even if I was a big apple-cinnamon fan, it's just incredibly dense and hard enough that you could beat someone to death with it. I'm not really sure, they look very similar to the one's I've eaten. We would get all our MRE type stuff from a local military surplus store that used to order them by the pallet from some supplier, because of that what ones they would have would vary on a month to month basis and sometimes it was just civilian MRE type stuff. The Korean ones, as I remember them at least, were very similar to backpacking food like Mountain House. No extra stuff just a big sack of dehydrated rice. My issue with the Japanese ones was all the grease. Some of them were pretty tasty but every single one was just swimming in oil. And as other people have maybe mentioned, all the meat puck type stuff that you get in those eastern European one's are supposed to be cooked. You can eat them raw if you want but they taste way better if you fry them in a pan.
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Mar 5, 2016 01:16
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El Estrago Bonito posted:And as other people have maybe mentioned, all the meat puck type stuff that you get in those eastern European one's are supposed to be cooked. You can eat them raw if you want but they taste way better if you fry them in a pan. Trust me, I heat up everything in the rations that's able to be heated. I've taken a few bites of military food cold, but every review I do has them heated up. I do use a microwave for convenience on the Eastern European stuff (since I work afternoons and nights, I rarely have time during weekdays to go outside and cook on a hexamine stove like the real thing would be cooked on), but I always use whatever flameless ration heater a ration comes with. Curiously, the Danish ration includes a Beyond the Beaten Trail FRH but doesn't seem to have any retort pouches meant to be heated in it!
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Mar 5, 2016 05:51
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Making good headway on Denmark. Amusingly, the accessory bag includes a disposable toothbrush and three toothpicks.
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Mar 7, 2016 03:42
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I see the Danish ration doesn't include off-brand Nutella anymore. That's just not okay.
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Mar 7, 2016 22:32
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Just powered through all 12 pages today. I served 13 total years in the US Army between active and NG. I lived off MREs and tray rats for more time than I care to admit. I still legit love MREs. I had the older Dark brown ones growing up, and suffered through the same A/B case mix for a long time, and remembered getting very excited when they started rotating meals around the time of OIF. Chicken Tet was awesome, so was Chicken A La King. Country Captain Chicken can gently caress right of the edge of the universe. I remember being told that CCC was added because it was Patton's favorite meal. gently caress him. I miss the Four Fingers of Death. I never liked Jalapeno Cheese Spread, and was a rock star for willing to trade it for any other cheese spread. My first roommate also had a weird obsession with peanut butter, so he always traded me cheese for my PB, which I could take or leave. Wheat Snack Bread and Cheese Spread is like a weird comfort food to me. Chow hall food was mostly decent when I was in, and I wish I could find the recipe for the terrible 'yakisoba' they served in the Ft. Benning chow halls. I've had British and German rations, and while they have their charm, the American ones are better overall. You all eating the weird foreign poo poo are doing god's work.
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Mar 8, 2016 04:57
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http://i.imgur.com/fvicxiW.mp4 Cross-posting from PYF
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Mar 8, 2016 07:38
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bulletsponge13 posted:Chow hall food was mostly decent when I was in, and I wish I could find the recipe for the terrible 'yakisoba' they served in the Ft. Benning chow halls. http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/jccoe/publications/recipes/section_l/L06200.pdf I never understood how they got away with calling that poo poo yakisoba, it's like yakisoba as described by an alien who doesn't eat human food. Might as well put ketchup and a cheese slice on toast and call it pizza, yep, checks all the boxes, it's pizza. Any of the recipes you would have had in the mess hall will have a card like that one, just have to find them. And then invite over 99 friends or else adjust the proportions. hogmartin fucked around with this message at 10:50 on Mar 8, 2016 |
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Mar 8, 2016 10:42
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Is that really enough spice for 100 servings? I'd have expected either no spices, or more. Also, the second batch of salt doesn't seem to get used - I assume it goes in with the spices and soya sauce.
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Mar 8, 2016 10:53
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rchandra posted:Is that really enough spice for 100 servings? I'd have expected either no spices, or more. It does seem a bit light for that quantity and I don't see where the second salt gets used either. Huh. There would be a good selection of condiments on the table though, the recipes would be mild enough for anyone and if you need more spice you add it yourself. The usual selection would be salt, pepper, ketchup, A-1 steak sauce, Heinz 57 sauce, Tabasco (and sometimes another hot sauce as well), and soy sauce. Some meals would have another condiment, like vinegar with french fries or grated cheese with pasta. Pizza would be served with crushed red pepper but also ranch dressing as a dipping sauce and I still throw up a little in the back of my throat thinking of people loading up pizza with that nasty poo poo.
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Mar 8, 2016 11:08
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hogmartin posted:http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/jccoe/publications/recipes/section_l/L06200.pdf Thanks! The links to that site don't seem to work for me, except for the direct recipe ones. I can't find a way to tool around and find anything.
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Mar 8, 2016 15:08
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Yeah, I'm not sure what the deal is, there used to be a DoD recipe card site that worked but I can't get the links to work either. The index is fine, but none of the individual recipes links work. I just Google searched for 'Army yakisoba recipe card'. I guess you can use the index to find recipes to search for.
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Mar 8, 2016 15:17
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I found an article that reveals just where "rock or something" came from.quote:Oleksyk was there at the beginning with colleagues Bob Trottier and now-retired Don Pickard when the FRH and that memorable phrase were born in 1993.
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Mar 8, 2016 17:47
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hogmartin posted:Yeah, I'm not sure what the deal is, there used to be a DoD recipe card site that worked but I can't get the links to work either. The index is fine, but none of the individual recipes links work. I just Google searched for 'Army yakisoba recipe card'. I guess you can use the index to find recipes to search for.
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Mar 8, 2016 18:36
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The Ukranian ration seemed like it might have been way less foul cooked on a stove instead of microwaved. All that grease would let you fry it up sort of like fried spam instead of just eating it warm. Like the bacon cube looked like it was raw bacon that was intended to be cooked like normal till it was crispy and browned instead of just warmed and eaten.
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Mar 9, 2016 07:03
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darthbob88 posted:You can make your own links. Working from the full index here, it lists hacienda potatoes, which I really want to make some time, under Q 07900, and the recipe card is at http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/jccoe/publications/recipes/section_q/q07900.pdf In general, recipe <Letter> <5 digit code> is at http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/jccoe/publications/recipes/section_<letter>/<letter+code>.pdf Creamed chipped beef, aka SOS, is good stuff when prepared properly. Needs more pepper though.
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Mar 9, 2016 07:12
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Foxfire_ posted:The Ukranian ration seemed like it might have been way less foul cooked on a stove instead of microwaved. All that grease would let you fry it up sort of like fried spam instead of just eating it warm. It's like the canned Hormel corned beef hash, it's just salt, fat and meat. It's...Edible when cold, Tolerable when nuked in the microwave (wheres the goddamned hot sauce!), and Damned Tasty when it's fried until crispy. You really can't go too wrong with salty fat if you can just get it hot enough.
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Mar 9, 2016 08:13
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monster on a stick posted:Creamed chipped beef, aka SOS, is good stuff when prepared properly. Needs more pepper though. Pork adobo was another good one (http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/jccoe/publications/recipes/section_l/l09900.pdf) though one of our chiefs had an irrational hatred of it. I'm more curious about mess hall recipes than packaged rations now, how and when did a Filipino pork dish get institutionalized into the US armed forces dining repertoire? Or half-assed spaghetti yakisoba? There was a US military presence in the Philippines and there still is one in Japan, so it's not totally out of nowhere that those foods might end up being adopted, but at some point someone had to say "yep, we're gonna add pork adobo to the recipe list" and put together a card for making it. SOS makes sense; it's a classic diner breakfast, but Filipino cuisine isn't really familiar to most Americans. e: The recipe cards are cool but I wonder how much is lost when you don't know the little tricks. The good cooks would put chicken broth in the mashed potatoes or grape jelly in the Swedish meatballs or a cup of coffee in the SOS. It wasn't enough to make them taste like chicken or jelly or coffee, just some subtle added flavor that made things a lot nicer. You could definitely tell who was working the galley even though they were all technically working off the same cards. hogmartin fucked around with this message at 11:42 on Mar 9, 2016 |
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Mar 9, 2016 11:18
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hogmartin posted:Pork adobo was another good one (http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/jccoe/publications/recipes/section_l/l09900.pdf) though one of our chiefs had an irrational hatred of it. I'm more curious about mess hall recipes than packaged rations now, how and when did a Filipino pork dish get institutionalized into the US armed forces dining repertoire? Or half-assed spaghetti yakisoba? I think it's a mix of a) adobo is delicious, b) food is the best way to integrate people in a very multi-ethnic armed forces, and c) a good percentage of people and not familiar enough with adobo to know what it's really supposed to taste like, so "not terrible" is nice to get. The bad yakisoba is an offshoot of a similarly bad cafeteria dish. I can't remember what it was called, but it was basically a way to use up leftover spaghetti. American Chop Chop, I remember it being called. Just tasted like ground beef, salt, and sad. Suspect Bucket fucked around with this message at 14:26 on Mar 9, 2016 |
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Mar 9, 2016 14:18
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Suspect Bucket posted:a good percentage of people and not familiar enough with adobo to know what it's really supposed to taste like, so "not terrible" is nice to get. Woo, you're not kidding. Boat pork adobo was a tasty and welcome institutional food compared to others, but nothing like the real thing. Some of the Filipino sailors' wives would bring like a crate of food down when their husbands were on duty and if you were in the same duty section you absolutely did not go hungry for lack of adobo or pancit or lumpia. Suspect Bucket posted:The bad yakisoba is an offshoot of a similarly bad cafeteria dish. I can't remember what it was called, but it was basically a way to use up leftover spaghetti. American Chop Chop, I remember it being called. Just tasted like ground beef, salt, and sad. Chop suey, maybe?
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Mar 9, 2016 15:32
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hogmartin posted:Chop suey, maybe? Well, American Chop Suey is a thing, but it was always this weird elbow pasta baked casserole with cheese on top. The way I had it at Lutheran luncheons made it like a half-assed ziti. But it was still pretty tasty to my childhood taste buds. Chop chop was a sad summer camp thing that I was not alone in hating. But other places might call it 'Chop suey'. Which is dumb and sad. Real Chop Suey is an important footnote in chineese-american history.
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Mar 10, 2016 13:27
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American Chop Suey sounds like the regular Nordic macaroni casserole.
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Mar 10, 2016 13:38
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Siivola posted:American Chop Suey sounds like the regular Nordic macaroni casserole. A little bit, but it's usually fried rather than baked and doesn't include any dairy. Suspect Bucket posted:Real Chop Suey is an important footnote in chineese-american history. Yep, it's definitely a key piece of how early Chinese immigrants interacted with the American public. Not quite on-topic for a military food thread, but "The Search for General Tso" (it's on Netflix) is a pretty good documentary on the history of the Chinese food tradition in America.
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Mar 11, 2016 12:40
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It was called Johnny Marzetti where I'm from. http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/09/american-chop-suey-johnny-marzetti-beefaroni-hamburger-helper-goulash-italian-american.html
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Mar 11, 2016 14:06
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