in the Chinese MRE. the cucumber, spicy beef, chili sauce, quail eggs is meant as condiments to the rice dish. not to be eaten separately. you finally got it right when added all of the components together. 👍 I agree the calories is what makes the Chinese MRE lose. you are not going to win wars if your soldiers don't have the energy to work.
THrow in some chocolates and you get as many calories as you want, and those may supplied separately. Chines MRE win on the taste, which is the most important metric for food.
I am sure you are supposed to mix everything, except for the soup, in the box to eat the meal. For an Asian, I would pick the Chinese. It's just more interesting and probably tastier. The American has a lot higher sugar content. It resembles a typical fast food meal in a service station. It's more appealing to Americans.
The difference is with the Chinese ration is that it’s generally assumed that most of the time you will have a supply of plain rice to supplement your rations.
he bought an off the shelf brand you can get for camping for the chinese one, and china while having a lot of rations of themselfs employs field kitchens or even brings stuff like instant noodles depending on the situation since most of their military stays within the country
That's a shitty excuse for a bad ration. Good to know that if they're stranded or unable to get to the kitchen. (The entire purpose of a MRE) they're just screweed.
@@TheWorldsOkayestUSMarine Yes that's why traditionally it was a staple. It's small, portable, requires very minimal storage protections to be viable, and only requires a simple container to boil water in to prepare. In the western world beans, dried peas, and oats were the general equivalent however beans and peas take more time to make edible and oats require more protection from humidity to stay edible. It it had more nutrients it would be the ultimate survival food, but as a generic caloric stomach filler, its great.
If we're being charitable to the Chinese MRE, the fact that they have so few calories probably points to a doctrinal or operational assumption by the Chinese that they'll mostly be operating within close proximity to a field kitchen or commissary of some sort. A and B rations, basically. They're probably not anticipating conducting operations where they'll have to rely on soldiers carrying high calorie individual meals like we do.
@@Pats0c actually there are different varieties of MRE in China, some type of MRE contains stewed beef briskets, pork belly and dried sausage, so it really depends on purposes
So if they can't have meals delivered to them because of battle conditions, what are they supposed to live off from? Either starve or try living off the land? P. S. The US military also has field kitchens and tries to provide a hot meal a day, if battlefield conditions allow for it. Otherwise you can rely on having MREs to last you for the length of the mission.
9:18 - Fortune Cookies are an American invention. Most people who live in China wouldn't know what you were talking about if you asked for a fortune cookie.
It's good enough for them. They are mostly lean & fit, hardly anyone with excess fat - check out their physical size at their military parades.
หลายเดือนก่อน +1
No u don't understand how u suppose to it! This is the meat and veg pack where u eat with plain white rice with 🍚 not standard alone jelly bullshit cookie meat lmfao 😂
Having lived in China and lookin at what you got on that tray, my bet is that everything except the tomato and eggs is sposed to be mixed together with the main dish. Also, they don't really eat much egg drop soup in China, but tomato and scrambled eggs is a dish they serve all over the country.
Very interesting. I thought all the company size Chinese army has one squad dedicated to provide hot meals to all the servicemen. In situation they can't provide such service, they just eat dehydrated biscuit and drink water in the past. But whenever possible, freshly cooked hot meal is deemed to boost the morale of the combat unit and have always been their first choice.
26:35 To use paper box not for the reason PLA don't have tray, the main reason was this food pack is using during battlefield, the most simple way is the most convenience for soldier,but after withdraw from battlefield in the peaceful area then they have their cooking support vehicle for fresh meal.
@@bestofthetime6916for someone so self assured, this harmless video certainly seems to have made you so incredibly insecure as to reply to every other comment. No worries, lobbyists are counting on throwing unwaveringly loyal, pea brained body bags like you as fodder for temu drones 😂
Great video and unbiased opinions. I like the Chinese MRE more as its more balanced and came with a cardboard box, which I'd definitely bring on a long trail day. I'd probably add everything but the egg drop soup into the pouch first and mix them. The egg drop soup looks amazing. Dispite the high calorie contents in the American MRE, the actual main meal is not as dense, the added calories were mostly from sugar which will shoot up your insulin level very quickly, the variety is nice though.
You have to be careful because half of the time these MREs from China are fake and not really from the military since it's illegal to export. Steve bought from the wrong source unfortunately.
Never met anyone who served in the Marine Corps who doesnt clean their plate. Least picky eaters Ive ever met. In the field, you never know when youre meal is your last for a while. Gratitude for all meals offered is expressed by not turning down eats.
I understand why a lot of people are upset about the American MRES having skittles but I’ve always assumed they existed for morale reasons. Yes they are extremely unhealthy but this isn’t the only candy you can find in them.
@dabo5078 In USAF bmt, we hardly had access to sweets. Being caught with candy that wasn't given to us means trouble. We were given "protein bars," which are chocolate granola bars and used them as currency. I'd image sweets when you're in the middle of a desert without any store nearby would have a lot more meaning.
That leaves 900 calories that aren't and that is still a lot more than the chinese one. The chinese learned that they f'd up and are changing their MREs. GTFO with your america is bad nonsense.
I may be incorrect, but the Chinese only has a small caloric value in their meals, because I’m thinking they will supplement their caloric needs with rice, since rice isn’t difficult to store, carry, or prepare. Just my thoughts…
😀 It's actually civilian imitation military food from the Chinese version of aliexpress - Taobao. Real Chinese military food is hard to buy in the civilian world, because military food belongs to the military unified procurement of materials, the logistics department management is very strict, and China's military food has a separate military food standards, does not apply to commercially available civilian food standards. In fact, Chinese military rations are not much different from American MREs, with candy, chocolate, coffee or tea bags, and instant juices as standard, and far more calories than imitations.
I wonder what the actual composition of the total calories is. I see lots of added sugar (not natural carbs), such as Skittles, jams, jelly, in the US MRE. Also, I am glad you put everything together when you tried the Chinese meal. That is the correct way to make it tasty.
I dont think you did it the right way on the Chinese MRE, Chinese eat hot food, the packaging said Self heating food, meaning it should be adding water and activate the self heating to make the food hot.
When you took the mug of water out, I thought you gonna throw the soup cube into the mug... Yeah, I think you definitely need that much of water to make the soup ! The Chinese package has all regular things just like a pack lunch. The tomato and egg soup is classic, the soy beaf is another classic light bite with a meal. The pickle usually goes with porridge but nothing wrong with rice as well. Quail egg is one of my favourite snack in childhood. And mixing the hot source with the rice is exactly the right way to go. As a Chinese there should be no big problem eating the Chinese pack, but is likely to have some difficulty eating the American pack (cracker to replace rice or noodle?). Therefore, really personal choice there !
I can’t recall the last time seeing a PLA soldier eating MRE. Most of the time it’s assumed that the food truck will always prepare hot meal that is packaged in lunch boxes and sent to the frontline.
18:14 This is not spicy, it was Wu Xiang Niu Rou, beef cooked with 5 kind of spices, it was very popular in Chinese communities, note this call [beef with 5 spices] but in the fact it was combine of following spices: Angelica dahurica, star anise, pepper, grass fruit, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, amomum villosum, galangal, ginger, licorice, fennel, bay leaf, nutmeg, costus root, galangal, magnolia bark, citrus aurantium, tangerine peel, mint.
Former active duty USAF here, been out for 30 years now, and I liked the MREs we had back then. I think the Chicken Stew was the best, and the worst by far was the Omelette IN WATER. We didn't have heaters back then, and pretty much everyone mixed the fruit drink right into their canteen.
the egg was salted on the outside, the outter layer is hard and it's supposed to be an egg snack that can go around in your pocket or a bag also this chinese MRE is not the one they use in the military, they came from a company that sells fake MRE(mostly just a watered down version of the real one) as souvenir and as a gimmick on the internet
the bag of the Chinese MRE says 'special forces'(特种兵), but PLA does not call our units that way. So it could not have been used by PLA, or at least not the exact type. This MRE can be easily found on Taobao. I guess it is produced for home use rather than military.
The package said it was manufactured by 秦皇島食品公司 If this should be real PLA mre it should be produced by the the people liberation army general logistics department 解放軍總後勤部
I believe the China MRE is not meant to provide all the energy. It aims providing a better meal-like taste. Calorie is cheap and easy, just eat some compressed biscuit, not worth including in a MRE pack. On the other hand, the US MRE looks like snack, not a meal. I don't feel like eating it.
And he's eating it the wrong way by tasting/eating things separately. I feel a bit of cringe when someone does that to the side dish without eating it with rice. Like how western people would just eats up the peanut butter without spreading it over the bread. Not sure about China but in Malaysia we have similar cuisine like that and we don't eat the stuff separately. Each components mixed together into one delicious meal...meat, quail eggs, soup pour into the rice, hot sauce to to dip or sprinkle over rice and the cucumber too into every spoonful you eat.
53 year old, 14 year Active Duty Army vet here, thanks for not constantly smacking your lips whilst eating. I hate watching people eating their food who smack their lips after each bite. Nice video Leatherneck!!
Picturing a 250 lb former offensive lineman from Kentucky going up against a skinny Chinese guy in a trench who’s only had 250 calories of hot sauce that day
Errr... Just a bit of tips... The Chinese MRE you tested is a "Based on Type 13 - Civilian MRE", is produced to mimic the Military MRE but made for Civilian market and use, PLA do purchase those Civilian MREs as side supply for their units, as the military MREs were usually distributed base on type of service and operation, and some times using civilian MREs will suits their short or low intensity training better then using the standard issued MREs. Currently in service types (base on my knowledge) of Chinese ARMY MREs are... Open and eat MREs: All different Types of MREs under this category are build around compressed biscuits, it's often compressed biscuits with meat and pickles sides plus snacks and drink powder. The pack is small in size, usually only 1/2 to 1/4 the size of a standard MRE pack. Type 13: Each pack contents 2 main dishes (stir fry rice or noodle), a tiny pack of pickles and a satchel of vitamin supplement drinking powder, this is an "Operation Orientate MRE", it works in a way fairly different when compare to other MRE packs... In humanitarian disaster relieve operation, each MRE pack will give the civilians who is receiving aid relief enough energy to survive a day (2 mains and one vita supplement). In standard training operation, 2 MRE packs (4 mains and 2 vita supplements) shall be able to supply a soldier enough energy to carry out a standard strength training day away from base. In high intensity operation, each soldier will receive 3 MRE packs a day, this contains 6 mains and 3 vita supplements in total, and shall give enough energy to deal with heavy physically demanding day. The Type 13 is still the current mainstream MRE packs for PLA. Type 17: Have many different type of meal construction, it is combination of "1-2 mains, 0-1 sides, 0-1 pickle, 0-1 source, 0-1 cake/protein/cereal bar, 0-1 dried fruits or vegetable chews, 0-1 chocolate, chowing gum, 0-1 drinking powder/soup cube", but the result of combination comes fairly close to the US MRE. And there are still packs that contain 2 mains for extra energy, for exp, meal 5 of Type 17 contains 1 pack stir fry rice and 1 pack stir fry noodle, 1 pack fish cake side, 1 pack mushroom pickle, a chocolate, chewing gum, and a pack of vitamin drinking powder. A Newer model of MRE is currently under development, but it sounds more like a "carb-base + meat main + side" mix and match in MRE form... Also, Chinese Airforce and Navy have their own type of MREs.
See above comment from someone who says they served in the Chinese Army. I'm not sure other than it was sold as a true Chinese MRE......the packaging seemed to back it up. TFW
@@MeAncient It was actually the packaging that gave it away: that big brand name logo on top just seemed too commercial to me. There are quite a lot info on the web about this particular product (unfortunately, they're mostly in Chinese). For example, in this video: th-cam.com/video/YnAMKZJCZjQ/w-d-xo.html , the host detailed the differences between civilian vs military versions. Often times, they are produced by the same manufacturer, so you do get a good taste of what a real MRE looks/tastes like. But it's kind of unfair to compare the civilian version vs a real US MRE. I bet that the reason it has very low total calories is because it's a civilian version. Anyway, still enjoyed your videos. Keep up the good work.
I hope you can get your hands on one of the British ones. They're usually 24 hour so equivalent to 3 MREs but a massive step up from the 80s stuff. You might actually confuse them with real food.
That beef is basically their version of beef jerky. I find it not very tasty, but my wife likes it. Youre right, that soup needs more water, about 8 ounces. You can buy a pack of 12 online here for about three bucks, in lots of flavors. Those pickles are meant to be a salty garnish to add to the main. Quail eggs are goooood, they eat them in lot of dishes here. Pickled eggs are strange here, they have duck, chicken and quail, took some getting used to due to the rubbery texture, but now i really like them. That rice looks sad, glad it tasted better than it looked.
Sounds like you are a peanut butter fan just like me... if you ever come to Maine, there's a Chinese restaurant in Bangor called Happy Garden Buffet, and they make a peanut butter crispy chicken. That chicken is possibly the most delicious chicken I've ever had in my life. I'm an executive chef and I can't figure out how they make it. Many of the chefs and cooks in central and northern Maine have tried to duplicate it but none of us can. It's so good that if I was rich I would charter a private jet just for dinner. Many top chef's have gone there to try it and they all are shocked by how good it is and how unique. We have even been trying to get Gordon Ramsay over there to try it, and eventually he will because he loves Maine. Anyhow, if you ever come up to Maine, you absolutely must try the peanut butter chicken. I started craving it the second you opened that packet of peanut butter.
"...Fortune cookies are often served as a dessert in Chinese restaurants in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries, but they are not Chinese in origin. The exact origin of fortune cookies is unclear, though various immigrant groups in California claim to have popularized them in the early 20th century. They most likely originated from cookies made by Japanese immigrants to the United States in the late 19th or early 20th century. The Japanese version did not have the Chinese lucky numbers and were eaten with tea... ...As far back as the 19th century, a cookie very similar in appearance to the modern fortune cookie was made in Kyoto, Japan, and there is a Japanese temple tradition of random fortunes, called omikuji. The Japanese version of the cookie differs in several ways: they are a little bit larger; are made of darker dough; and their batter contains sesame and miso rather than vanilla and butter. They contain a fortune; however, the small slip of paper was wedged into the bend of the cookie rather than placed inside the hollow portion. This kind of cookie is called tsujiura senbei (辻占煎餅) and is still sold in some regions of Japan..."
Youre supposed to mix EVERYTHING together, and have the soup block in a mug as a side dish. This chinese MRE is not the one, the real one has 1100 calories.
One thing about the U.S. ration is that it is heavily based on sugar and processed carbs. Looks great for quick fuel but seems like your blood sugar would drop fast from that. The Chinese meal, while having much lower calories, seems to be heavier in fats and proteins which would hang around longer. Even the carbs from the rice seemed like something that might fuel a person a bit longer. Could be quality over quantity. I didn't catch it, but it might be interesting to see a comparison of the macros of each.
Each ingredient in an mre is different and does something different when you consume it. Apple sauce helps you go to the bathroom and you have protein sugar carbs and the chinese stuff is what mommy would cook for her violent son
Some of these comments about how the U.S. meal lacks taste or are unhealthy are just stupid. This is war food it’s not designed to have taste or be healthy its main job is to keep you alive. That’s why MRE stands for Meals Ready to Eat NOT Meals Ready to Enjoy
As someone who is Chinese American served in US Army, MRE is the worst I think. C rations like powdered eggs and lasagnas were real treats in the field. The Army in the late eighties and early nineties. Chicken Ala King or Spaghetti and meatballs were more of the favorites. Others were pretty like dog food. Dried peaches and apples were good along with Hershey bar that we used to trade. There were also toiletries items like TP and matches.
When I was active duty in the US Army we never used the hot beverage bag. i dont think anyone does, least not that i ever seen. also when you are on the move. you dont have time for it. i used to eat the milkshake powder mix plain like sugar candy as i marched. you dont have the water to mix it or the time, and you sure as heck dont want to put sticky stuff in your flask it will mess it up
Came across this from algorithm... not gonna lie, this was a solid review. Noticed a couple of Chinese comments below and now I'm curious if that Chinese MRE is legitimately used by their military. Regardless, if looking at the comparison alone, I like how descriptive you were. Sir, you just got a new subscriber here.
I always think of Skittles as gum drops with M&M candy coating, I remember in the '80s when they came out with a freeze-dried beef patty, and we ate it like jerky, I guess you could rehydrate it or mix it with some wet food but we never did, I wonder if the Chinese do the same with the egg drop soup when they're on the move and eat it as a dry crunchy treat? Being an ex-Airforce medic we never did much fieldwork so our MRE consumption was during a 2 week period every summer when the base had a mobility drill, where we had to set a mobile base. So I was never involved in the war games with NATO like some of my Army friends, I remember being told about a tradition where they would swap MREs, and a friend said he gave an MRE to his German counterpart and the German thanked him, when the German gave my friend his MRE he kinda dropped his head, and said "you will not like this", and my friend laughed, and after, told the German he was right, that it was not very good.
“特种兵” "is a convenience food designed based on military rations, mainly aimed at outdoor sports, tourism, etc. This bag in the food is size five, and there are other flavors such as“红烧肉” or “卤肉饭”.It's just that the brand name of this company is "特种兵", not the true MRE.
Yeah the rice is sorta meant to be bland. Usually in a lot of Asian cusines you'll have a big bit of carbs (rice or flat breads) and little accompaniments like the pickled vegetables, meats and so on to add flavour to it.
I'm pretty sure the chinese dish was supposed to have the beef and cucumber combined with the rice... still, even mixed together the Chinese MRE was depressing to look at. Like, that's it? That's all they get? I think my favorite MRE I've ever had was Ukrainian, followed by a close second with the South Korean MRE
@@MeAncient Korean one looks pretty good overall except for that dry pound cake and the questionable m&ms that didn’t melt. I find that the American one in comparison seems to have more processed and sugary foods which I’m not a fan of. I prefer savory, salty and spicy but to each his own.
I lived in Taiwan for a while and one of the popular breakfast dishes is a rice porridge called "congee" in it's plainest form it is just rice and water and is bland as all hell BUT it usually comes with a ton of add ins like salt preserved vegetables (obviously salty) pork floss (shredded jerky basically) sour pickles or fruit and sometimes various flavoring pastes/sauces. I think that you hit on the "key" to the Chinese ration in that it is meant to blend together into something greater than the parts.
The Chinese mre looks like it was meant to be a hot pot soup .. with rice with eggs and cucumber .. 😅 but he’s trying to make it seem crazy.. it was all supposed to be one savory dish..
Food is about keeping you working not about putting you to sleep after a meal. After cancer I have reduced to less than 500 calories per meal and I have lived through stage 4cancer for six years and I am off medication. I don’t take sugar at all and no meat.on top of that I have started a regular job. I am close to 50 years now. I think calorie count is a myth.
Fortune Cookies were invented in the US. You won't find it in anything traditionally Chinese.
@JonathanCollins-m7p and I think the American inventor was a Japanese man in California 😄
Interesting, so can you find them in anything traditionally American?
in the Chinese MRE. the cucumber, spicy beef, chili sauce, quail eggs is meant as condiments to the rice dish.
not to be eaten separately.
you finally got it right when added all of the components together. 👍
I agree the calories is what makes the Chinese MRE lose. you are not going to win wars if your soldiers don't have the energy to work.
THrow in some chocolates and you get as many calories as you want, and those may supplied separately. Chines MRE win on the taste, which is the most important metric for food.
Gotcha. TFW
@@polysporin8332 what impress me the most is the food heat itself just using water in a special bag
@@summerbreeze50Chinese foods are more healthy, American foods are too sweet and will cause you diabetes problem!
surely the American one has cucumber in it too.
I am sure you are supposed to mix everything, except for the soup, in the box to eat the meal. For an Asian, I would pick the Chinese. It's just more interesting and probably tastier. The American has a lot higher sugar content. It resembles a typical fast food meal in a service station. It's more appealing to Americans.
The difference is with the Chinese ration is that it’s generally assumed that most of the time you will have a supply of plain rice to supplement your rations.
he bought an off the shelf brand you can get for camping for the chinese one, and china while having a lot of rations of themselfs employs field kitchens or even brings stuff like instant noodles depending on the situation since most of their military stays within the country
@@ku1 every country’s military has those field kitchens.
That's a shitty excuse for a bad ration. Good to know that if they're stranded or unable to get to the kitchen. (The entire purpose of a MRE) they're just screweed.
Rice is an excellent form of energy. A mere 10lbs of rice is 50 1 cup servings.
@@TheWorldsOkayestUSMarine Yes that's why traditionally it was a staple. It's small, portable, requires very minimal storage protections to be viable, and only requires a simple container to boil water in to prepare. In the western world beans, dried peas, and oats were the general equivalent however beans and peas take more time to make edible and oats require more protection from humidity to stay edible. It it had more nutrients it would be the ultimate survival food, but as a generic caloric stomach filler, its great.
If we're being charitable to the Chinese MRE, the fact that they have so few calories probably points to a doctrinal or operational assumption by the Chinese that they'll mostly be operating within close proximity to a field kitchen or commissary of some sort. A and B rations, basically. They're probably not anticipating conducting operations where they'll have to rely on soldiers carrying high calorie individual meals like we do.
True, PLA has mobile kitchen and usually stays within border. But still, that's more like a civilian version from Aliexpress.
@@Pats0c The fact is that full belly doesn't go the war. Empty one does. Think about it.
@@Pats0c actually there are different varieties of MRE in China, some type of MRE contains stewed beef briskets, pork belly and dried sausage, so it really depends on purposes
那是民用的MRE，不是pla制式的MRE😂
@@杨丞琳吃大便 E, nek si nam reko 😂
The PLA don't usually have MREs; they have field cooks and trucks. That's been a tradition in the PLA for a while, its equipped at the company level.
So if they can't have meals delivered to them because of battle conditions, what are they supposed to live off from? Either starve or try living off the land?
P. S. The US military also has field kitchens and tries to provide a hot meal a day, if battlefield conditions allow for it. Otherwise you can rely on having MREs to last you for the length of the mission.
@@tatumergo3931 yeah I remember there's world army cook competition where they all show off their gears.
I had way more hot meals than MREs in the field as well. It was (usually) kind of a novelty for our unit to get MREs. TFW
@@tatumergo3931there's a culture difference here, a fresh and hot meal is very important for Chinese.
@@tatumergo3931 you ever hear of drones ?
9:18 - Fortune Cookies are an American invention. Most people who live in China wouldn't know what you were talking about if you asked for a fortune cookie.
Beef n broccoli, general tso chicken, orange chicken, egg foo yung, chop suey, kung pao, sweet n sour chicken these are all american lol
Great analysis. I agree the Chinese kit looked tasty, but that just isn't enough food to keep a soldier in fighting shape let alone happy.
It's the air force mre if it's the one I think it is.
It's good enough for them. They are mostly lean & fit, hardly anyone with excess fat - check out their physical size at their military parades.
No u don't understand how u suppose to it! This is the meat and veg pack where u eat with plain white rice with 🍚 not standard alone jelly bullshit cookie meat lmfao 😂
I really appreciated you didn't cut out the prayer. You're a godly man, and a role model. Thank you for your service!
Having lived in China and lookin at what you got on that tray, my bet is that everything except the tomato and eggs is sposed to be mixed together with the main dish.
Also, they don't really eat much egg drop soup in China, but tomato and scrambled eggs is a dish they serve all over the country.
Very interesting. I thought all the company size Chinese army has one squad dedicated to provide hot meals to all the servicemen. In situation they can't provide such service, they just eat dehydrated biscuit and drink water in the past. But whenever possible, freshly cooked hot meal is deemed to boost the morale of the combat unit and have always been their first choice.
yes, that's why MRE are not important for PLA.
Everyone has a plan till you get punched in the face.
Mike Tyson
The reliance on hot meals is very telling.
Considering the poor quality of Korean War rations. Both armies have matured.
Yes, China is now using drones to deliver hot meals to frontline soldiers.
in real combat , they eat NOTHING ！no supply ！
26:35 To use paper box not for the reason PLA don't have tray, the main reason was this food pack is using during battlefield, the most simple way is the most convenience for soldier,but after withdraw from battlefield in the peaceful area then they have their cooking support vehicle for fresh meal.
In fact, the "Chinese MRE" you obtained is merely a civilian version of MRE produced to satisfy the interests of military enthusiasts.
Perhaps you could obtain a real MRE for him to try. Would be cool
No difference whether the meal is civilian or not because in the end the Chinese soldier will be killed by US soldier
@@bestofthetime6916for someone so self assured, this harmless video certainly seems to have made you so incredibly insecure as to reply to every other comment. No worries, lobbyists are counting on throwing unwaveringly loyal, pea brained body bags like you as fodder for temu drones 😂
@@bestofthetime6916nothing funny about people dying. if there was a war between US and china, many would die on both sides
@@bestofthetime6916just do that,my hot baby.😊
Great video and unbiased opinions.
I like the Chinese MRE more as its more balanced and came with a cardboard box, which I'd definitely bring on a long trail day. I'd probably add everything but the egg drop soup into the pouch first and mix them. The egg drop soup looks amazing.
Dispite the high calorie contents in the American MRE, the actual main meal is not as dense, the added calories were mostly from sugar which will shoot up your insulin level very quickly, the variety is nice though.
LOL what kind of azzhead comment is that. You bring mres with you for a war not a hike getting an insulin shot is exactly what you need in war
@@3svj834 no wonder the diabetes rates so high in US
That 600 calorie Chinese MRE would be acceptable as a civilian MRE, but not for a soldier who has to carry supplies on his back.
It's an air force mre
@@Gongolongo In that case my bad lol
You are one brave guy. The Chinese main course had chunks in it I would have never eaten that even if someone paid me to eat it
You're brave for doing a Chinese ration after one almost took out Steve!
I hadn't heard that........TFW
Nothing like that 120old Civil War beef🐂😉
Melamine poisoning
You have to be careful because half of the time these MREs from China are fake and not really from the military since it's illegal to export. Steve bought from the wrong source unfortunately.
U are probably one of the sweetest American War Veterans Ive ever seen. You must be the sweetest Granpa. God bless 🙏🙏
Never met anyone who served in the Marine Corps who doesnt clean their plate. Least picky eaters Ive ever met. In the field, you never know when youre meal is your last for a while. Gratitude for all meals offered is expressed by not turning down eats.
That’s not Chinese MRE, that’s “Special Forces” brand civilian food you can order off Aliexpress. Real PLA MRE has over 4000 calories per serving 😂😂😂
The egg and tomato cube is actually freeze dried soup. It's a watery type of soup, so you'll need to add it into 120-150ml of hot water for a minute.
I could have used that advice before I put that together, for sure. Thanks for hanging out and the suggestions. TFW
I understand why a lot of people are upset about the American MRES having skittles but I’ve always assumed they existed for morale reasons. Yes they are extremely unhealthy but this isn’t the only candy you can find in them.
Most of the candies aren’t gourmet shit that would get anyone excited.
If I'm getting shot at on a daily basis, I don't think the unhealthy skittles are going to stress me out too much...
@dabo5078 In USAF bmt, we hardly had access to sweets. Being caught with candy that wasn't given to us means trouble. We were given "protein bars," which are chocolate granola bars and used them as currency. I'd image sweets when you're in the middle of a desert without any store nearby would have a lot more meaning.
1150 calories and 250 of them are from the bag of skittles.
That leaves 900 calories that aren't and that is still a lot more than the chinese one. The chinese learned that they f'd up and are changing their MREs. GTFO with your america is bad nonsense.
@@thomgizziz not bad but mainly sugar and chemical preservatives. Hate to say it but many countries have better ones.
Chinese are much smaller than fat Americans
@MuffHam we're talking about soldiers momo
@@rainman6080 you literally don't know what you are talking about do you?
I may be incorrect, but the Chinese only has a small caloric value in their meals, because I’m thinking they will supplement their caloric needs with rice, since rice isn’t difficult to store, carry, or prepare. Just my thoughts…
😀
It's actually civilian imitation military food from the Chinese version of aliexpress - Taobao. Real Chinese military food is hard to buy in the civilian world, because military food belongs to the military unified procurement of materials, the logistics department management is very strict, and China's military food has a separate military food standards, does not apply to commercially available civilian food standards. In fact, Chinese military rations are not much different from American MREs, with candy, chocolate, coffee or tea bags, and instant juices as standard, and far more calories than imitations.
Thank you for the info
Our civilian rations will keep us going
bruh is the USA MRE made by an 8 year-old?
It is made by human unlike the Chinese one which is made of vermin
Made in China
Junk food🤣
It’s so refreshing to hear an American not being political
Every time you say "get it out on a tray" you owe Steve1989MREinfo a royalty fee 🤣
Nice
Nice
Nice
the chinese mre is basically full of condiments, its supposed to be eaten with rice
Sides w/the rice. TFW
@@shoummodipto
The Chinese mre are full of side dishes.
The American is the one with the condiments all sauces and candy lmao.
I wonder what the actual composition of the total calories is. I see lots of added sugar (not natural carbs), such as Skittles, jams, jelly, in the US MRE. Also, I am glad you put everything together when you tried the Chinese meal. That is the correct way to make it tasty.
I dont think you did it the right way on the Chinese MRE, Chinese eat hot food, the packaging said Self heating food, meaning it should be adding water and activate the self heating to make the food hot.
When you took the mug of water out, I thought you gonna throw the soup cube into the mug... Yeah, I think you definitely need that much of water to make the soup !
The Chinese package has all regular things just like a pack lunch. The tomato and egg soup is classic, the soy beaf is another classic light bite with a meal. The pickle usually goes with porridge but nothing wrong with rice as well. Quail egg is one of my favourite snack in childhood. And mixing the hot source with the rice is exactly the right way to go.
As a Chinese there should be no big problem eating the Chinese pack, but is likely to have some difficulty eating the American pack (cracker to replace rice or noodle?). Therefore, really personal choice there !
I can’t recall the last time seeing a PLA soldier eating MRE. Most of the time it’s assumed that the food truck will always prepare hot meal that is packaged in lunch boxes and sent to the frontline.
I would hypothesize that the Chinese ration is more of a supplement to a default ration of rice.
18:14 This is not spicy, it was Wu Xiang Niu Rou, beef cooked with 5 kind of spices, it was very popular in Chinese communities, note this call [beef with 5 spices] but in the fact it was combine of following spices: Angelica dahurica, star anise, pepper, grass fruit, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, amomum villosum, galangal, ginger, licorice, fennel, bay leaf, nutmeg, costus root, galangal, magnolia bark, citrus aurantium, tangerine peel, mint.
That's too spicy for average americans, whose condiments are pepper and salt, and that's it.
他们理解不了.....😅
The fortune cookie will say “you will not get your head blown off today”
Former active duty USAF here, been out for 30 years now, and I liked the MREs we had back then. I think the Chicken Stew was the best, and the worst by far was the Omelette IN WATER. We didn't have heaters back then, and pretty much everyone mixed the fruit drink right into their canteen.
you can tell there was no processing for the chinese mre. Its Chinese food you don’t need to process it you just eat it uncooked
the egg was salted on the outside, the outter layer is hard and it's supposed to be an egg snack that can go around in your pocket or a bag
also this chinese MRE is not the one they use in the military, they came from a company that sells fake MRE(mostly just a watered down version of the real one) as souvenir and as a gimmick on the internet
the bag of the Chinese MRE says 'special forces'(特种兵), but PLA does not call our units that way. So it could not have been used by PLA, or at least not the exact type.
This MRE can be easily found on Taobao. I guess it is produced for home use rather than military.
Nah it’s for military fans I think. There are other emergency food for us civilians.
The package said it was manufactured by 秦皇島食品公司 If this should be real PLA mre it should be produced by the the people liberation army general logistics department 解放軍總後勤部
Those eggs are boiled in woolong tea leafs. It is similar to pickled eggs.
I remember the old beef stew MREs with the Cherry nut pound cake and the little bottle of Tabasco sauce man I loved those things😂
I rarely say this to a video i watch, but this vid. deserves more views. It's really entertaining.
You are very kind to say that. TFW
They don’t need that many calories. 630 is enough for a single military aged Chinese man to get to the southern border.
I believe the China MRE is not meant to provide all the energy. It aims providing a better meal-like taste. Calorie is cheap and easy, just eat some compressed biscuit, not worth including in a MRE pack. On the other hand, the US MRE looks like snack, not a meal. I don't feel like eating it.
And he's eating it the wrong way by tasting/eating things separately. I feel a bit of cringe when someone does that to the side dish without eating it with rice. Like how western people would just eats up the peanut butter without spreading it over the bread.
Not sure about China but in Malaysia we have similar cuisine like that and we don't eat the stuff separately. Each components mixed together into one delicious meal...meat, quail eggs, soup pour into the rice, hot sauce to to dip or sprinkle over rice and the cucumber too into every spoonful you eat.
“Taste” won’t matter when you are dead. In war, no energy means no survivors
Taste means squat. This is food for war not a wedding
@@eddie_corleone absolutely 💯
Did the Chinese rice come with brick taste? After all that is the size it come in
53 year old, 14 year Active Duty Army vet here, thanks for not constantly smacking your lips whilst eating. I hate watching people eating their food who smack their lips after each bite. Nice video Leatherneck!!
Picturing a 250 lb former offensive lineman from Kentucky going up against a skinny Chinese guy in a trench who’s only had 250 calories of hot sauce that day
😂😂 好笑
I will take the healthy Asian over the obese American
你确定吃糖不会变胖吗？还是你觉得中国士兵吃不起巧克力？ 在主食里放进去各种糖果和果酱。应该只有美国人这么吃。 中国人知道，甜食是甜食，可以随时吃。主食是主食，一天吃三次。而不是在主食里加入糖果。中国的单兵食品：油、盐、蛋白质、糖、维生素、都有。美国的单兵食品：糖、糖果、糖浆、糖水、碳水化合物。 能量确实很高。早餐、中、晚餐。都是糖。
The beef should have been put into the main dish and rice after it was hot. The other items are sides to have with the rice and the main course.
Errr... Just a bit of tips... The Chinese MRE you tested is a "Based on Type 13 - Civilian MRE", is produced to mimic the Military MRE but made for Civilian market and use, PLA do purchase those Civilian MREs as side supply for their units, as the military MREs were usually distributed base on type of service and operation, and some times using civilian MREs will suits their short or low intensity training better then using the standard issued MREs.
Currently in service types (base on my knowledge) of Chinese ARMY MREs are...
Open and eat MREs: All different Types of MREs under this category are build around compressed biscuits, it's often compressed biscuits with meat and pickles sides plus snacks and drink powder. The pack is small in size, usually only 1/2 to 1/4 the size of a standard MRE pack.
Type 13: Each pack contents 2 main dishes (stir fry rice or noodle), a tiny pack of pickles and a satchel of vitamin supplement drinking powder, this is an "Operation Orientate MRE", it works in a way fairly different when compare to other MRE packs...
In humanitarian disaster relieve operation, each MRE pack will give the civilians who is receiving aid relief enough energy to survive a day (2 mains and one vita supplement).
In standard training operation, 2 MRE packs (4 mains and 2 vita supplements) shall be able to supply a soldier enough energy to carry out a standard strength training day away from base.
In high intensity operation, each soldier will receive 3 MRE packs a day, this contains 6 mains and 3 vita supplements in total, and shall give enough energy to deal with heavy physically demanding day.
The Type 13 is still the current mainstream MRE packs for PLA.
Type 17: Have many different type of meal construction, it is combination of "1-2 mains, 0-1 sides, 0-1 pickle, 0-1 source, 0-1 cake/protein/cereal bar, 0-1 dried fruits or vegetable chews, 0-1 chocolate, chowing gum, 0-1 drinking powder/soup cube", but the result of combination comes fairly close to the US MRE. And there are still packs that contain 2 mains for extra energy, for exp, meal 5 of Type 17 contains 1 pack stir fry rice and 1 pack stir fry noodle, 1 pack fish cake side, 1 pack mushroom pickle, a chocolate, chewing gum, and a pack of vitamin drinking powder.
A Newer model of MRE is currently under development, but it sounds more like a "carb-base + meat main + side" mix and match in MRE form...
Also, Chinese Airforce and Navy have their own type of MREs.
Interesting. Do you know the calorie content of these rations?
This is not the real Chinese MRE. A civilian version for the general consumers, rather, under the brand name of " 特种兵“ （"special force").
See above comment from someone who says they served in the Chinese Army. I'm not sure other than it was sold as a true Chinese MRE......the packaging seemed to back it up. TFW
@@MeAncient It was actually the packaging that gave it away: that big brand name logo on top just seemed too commercial to me. There are quite a lot info on the web about this particular product (unfortunately, they're mostly in Chinese). For example, in this video: th-cam.com/video/YnAMKZJCZjQ/w-d-xo.html , the host detailed the differences between civilian vs military versions. Often times, they are produced by the same manufacturer, so you do get a good taste of what a real MRE looks/tastes like. But it's kind of unfair to compare the civilian version vs a real US MRE. I bet that the reason it has very low total calories is because it's a civilian version. Anyway, still enjoyed your videos. Keep up the good work.
I hope you can get your hands on one of the British ones. They're usually 24 hour so equivalent to 3 MREs but a massive step up from the 80s stuff. You might actually confuse them with real food.
That beef is basically their version of beef jerky. I find it not very tasty, but my wife likes it. Youre right, that soup needs more water, about 8 ounces. You can buy a pack of 12 online here for about three bucks, in lots of flavors. Those pickles are meant to be a salty garnish to add to the main. Quail eggs are goooood, they eat them in lot of dishes here. Pickled eggs are strange here, they have duck, chicken and quail, took some getting used to due to the rubbery texture, but now i really like them. That rice looks sad, glad it tasted better than it looked.
From an American living in china
Sounds like you are a peanut butter fan just like me... if you ever come to Maine, there's a Chinese restaurant in Bangor called Happy Garden Buffet, and they make a peanut butter crispy chicken. That chicken is possibly the most delicious chicken I've ever had in my life. I'm an executive chef and I can't figure out how they make it. Many of the chefs and cooks in central and northern Maine have tried to duplicate it but none of us can. It's so good that if I was rich I would charter a private jet just for dinner. Many top chef's have gone there to try it and they all are shocked by how good it is and how unique. We have even been trying to get Gordon Ramsay over there to try it, and eventually he will because he loves Maine. Anyhow, if you ever come up to Maine, you absolutely must try the peanut butter chicken. I started craving it the second you opened that packet of peanut butter.
I wanna see you get your hands on a Dutch MRE. Absolutely massive units.
I'll have to see what I can do........TFW
Delicious also
Fortune cooking were invented in the US, if i am not mistaken. No real Chinese person would expect a fortune cookie in a Chinese meal.
Jerome, you have shattered a childhood idea. Thanks a lot, man! TFW
"...Fortune cookies are often served as a dessert in Chinese restaurants in the United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries, but they are not Chinese in origin. The exact origin of fortune cookies is unclear, though various immigrant groups in California claim to have popularized them in the early 20th century. They most likely originated from cookies made by Japanese immigrants to the United States in the late 19th or early 20th century. The Japanese version did not have the Chinese lucky numbers and were eaten with tea...
...As far back as the 19th century, a cookie very similar in appearance to the modern fortune cookie was made in Kyoto, Japan, and there is a Japanese temple tradition of random fortunes, called omikuji. The Japanese version of the cookie differs in several ways: they are a little bit larger; are made of darker dough; and their batter contains sesame and miso rather than vanilla and butter. They contain a fortune; however, the small slip of paper was wedged into the bend of the cookie rather than placed inside the hollow portion. This kind of cookie is called tsujiura senbei (辻占煎餅) and is still sold in some regions of Japan..."
The Chinese one is not the real one the PLA uses, so 600 Cal is enough for the people who want a try.
That makes sense. TFW
No more tabasco sauce in the MRE? Those little bottles made powdered egg taste delicious lol
Youre supposed to mix EVERYTHING together, and have the soup block in a mug as a side dish.
This chinese MRE is not the one, the real one has 1100 calories.
500 calories of the US one is from sugar of the skittles, peanute butter/jam and "drink". Maybe the Chinese are offered those items in a seperate bag?
lol, as a Chinese, the packaging bag looks so fake, with a big "special force" printed on the front side.
One thing about the U.S. ration is that it is heavily based on sugar and processed carbs. Looks great for quick fuel but seems like your blood sugar would drop fast from that. The Chinese meal, while having much lower calories, seems to be heavier in fats and proteins which would hang around longer. Even the carbs from the rice seemed like something that might fuel a person a bit longer. Could be quality over quantity. I didn't catch it, but it might be interesting to see a comparison of the macros of each.
Interesting analysis, makes sense
Each ingredient in an mre is different and does something different when you consume it. Apple sauce helps you go to the bathroom and you have protein sugar carbs and the chinese stuff is what mommy would cook for her violent son
Some of these comments about how the U.S. meal lacks taste or are unhealthy are just stupid. This is war food it’s not designed to have taste or be healthy its main job is to keep you alive. That’s why MRE stands for Meals Ready to Eat NOT Meals Ready to Enjoy
the hot drink goes in the bag with the food on the other side of the heater one on each side of the heater!
You put the hot drink bag and your meal pack in the heater at the same time. I used to put the cheese or peanut butter in there too.
Chinese MRE can’t be bought from online dealers. These are just some commercial product wrapped in the military style.
As someone who is Chinese American served in US Army, MRE is the worst I think. C rations like powdered eggs and lasagnas were real treats in the field. The Army in the late eighties and early nineties. Chicken Ala King or Spaghetti and meatballs were more of the favorites. Others were pretty like dog food. Dried peaches and apples were good along with Hershey bar that we used to trade. There were also toiletries items like TP and matches.
When I was active duty in the US Army we never used the hot beverage bag. i dont think anyone does, least not that i ever seen.
also when you are on the move. you dont have time for it. i used to eat the milkshake powder mix plain like sugar candy as i marched. you dont have the water to mix it or the time, and you sure as heck dont want to put sticky stuff in your flask it will mess it up
Thank you for confirming my thoughts on the matter. And TFW!
That low calorie count would be a killer in the field.
Fortune cookies were invented in San Francisco. Most people in China don't even know what a fortune cookie is.
Came across this from algorithm... not gonna lie, this was a solid review. Noticed a couple of Chinese comments below and now I'm curious if that Chinese MRE is legitimately used by their military. Regardless, if looking at the comparison alone, I like how descriptive you were.
Sir, you just got a new subscriber here.
He did not conclude the body size needed, it is not fair!
这个是淘宝买的商品22块，中国单兵口粮从来没在市面流通过也不可能买得到军队不吃这个所以这个只能算是商品测试
I always think of Skittles as gum drops with M&M candy coating, I remember in the '80s when they came out with a freeze-dried beef patty, and we ate it like jerky, I guess you could rehydrate it or mix it with some wet food but we never did, I wonder if the Chinese do the same with the egg drop soup when they're on the move and eat it as a dry crunchy treat? Being an ex-Airforce medic we never did much fieldwork so our MRE consumption was during a 2 week period every summer when the base had a mobility drill, where we had to set a mobile base. So I was never involved in the war games with NATO like some of my Army friends, I remember being told about a tradition where they would swap MREs, and a friend said he gave an MRE to his German counterpart and the German thanked him, when the German gave my friend his MRE he kinda dropped his head, and said "you will not like this", and my friend laughed, and after, told the German he was right, that it was not very good.
I suspect the Chinese MRE was meant to be a noodle type of soup with beef and the eggs and hot sauce combined all in one 😅
Fortune cookies are an American invention and are not Chinese.
Watched the whole thing. Great video!
I'm so happy you enjoyed it. TFW!
A fun game to play is guess the skittles flavor while blindfolded! More often than not, you can’t tell what flavor it is without seeing the color! 😆
That spicy beef looked good, especially the spicy sauce
“特种兵” "is a convenience food designed based on military rations, mainly aimed at outdoor sports, tourism, etc. This bag in the food is size five, and there are other flavors such as“红烧肉” or “卤肉饭”.It's just that the brand name of this company is "特种兵", not the true MRE.
哈哈哈哈市面上有品牌名的都是民品
@@诡雅异俗 哈哈哈，这个名字也很迷惑
Chad US MRE vs Virgin CN MRE
that chinese mre was inspired by Tetris just look at those blocks coming out of the packages lol
It depends on the operational environment and the conditions of the logistical redelivery.
Chinese mre looks good
And keep up the good work
The Chinese package may not even contain food since it come out in chunks
GFY
The beef,the spicy sauce, the pickle, and eggs all get mixed into the main on the chinese mre.
Got anything on modern French rations? Last time I seen them on youtube it looked like something out of a proper restaurant.
Yeah the rice is sorta meant to be bland. Usually in a lot of Asian cusines you'll have a big bit of carbs (rice or flat breads) and little accompaniments like the pickled vegetables, meats and so on to add flavour to it.
I'm pretty sure the chinese dish was supposed to have the beef and cucumber combined with the rice...
still, even mixed together the Chinese MRE was depressing to look at. Like, that's it? That's all they get?
I think my favorite MRE I've ever had was Ukrainian, followed by a close second with the South Korean MRE
@@symphony_in_152mm2 I rather rice, eggs and veggies than skittles, jam and crackers. That’s junk food for lunch.
I hope you saw that I published a S. Korean comparison today.......TFW
@@MeAncient Korean one looks pretty good overall except for that dry pound cake and the questionable m&ms that didn’t melt. I find that the American one in comparison seems to have more processed and sugary foods which I’m not a fan of. I prefer savory, salty and spicy but to each his own.
soup is freeze dried, very fast recon in hot water.. super light weight to carry on camps and very good flavour after reconstitution..
Great tasting, too. TFW
I lived in Taiwan for a while and one of the popular breakfast dishes is a rice porridge called "congee" in it's plainest form it is just rice and water and is bland as all hell BUT it usually comes with a ton of add ins like salt preserved vegetables (obviously salty) pork floss (shredded jerky basically) sour pickles or fruit and sometimes various flavoring pastes/sauces. I think that you hit on the "key" to the Chinese ration in that it is meant to blend together into something greater than the parts.
Hello, I just found your channel and subbed. You are cool AF.
Welcome aboard, Kurt! I don't think I've honestly ever been called, 'cool.' That's a first. TFW!
The Chinese mre looks like it was meant to be a hot pot soup .. with rice with eggs and cucumber .. 😅 but he’s trying to make it seem crazy.. it was all supposed to be one savory dish..
he does mention that manybe it was suppose to be put together.
The Chinese MRE could be self-heated. I don't know why he didn‘t do that😂 It's delicious after heated
As a chinese, I think beef may be need to be hot as well, because hot food is more suitable for Chinese people. 🤔
We even tend to drink hot water if we can
@@Liyuan-xn5mc usually you don’t have time to heat these up in high tempo operations.
這是民用版本的口糧包，只是為了滿足民間軍迷的愛好罷了。
Food is about keeping you working not about putting you to sleep after a meal. After cancer I have reduced to less than 500 calories per meal and I have lived through stage 4cancer for six years and I am off medication. I don’t take sugar at all and no meat.on top of that I have started a regular job. I am close to 50 years now. I think calorie count is a myth.
According to different national customs, I like Chinese self-heating food when I go camping.
The rice is the main dish, and everything else is to spice it up. You got it right by adding the pickle, beef and spices to the rice dish.
TFW!
Chinese MRE after 30 days thanks to logistics failures: (ziplock bag of moldy rice)
Hope I didn't get one of those. I still have 3 more Chinese MREs to try. TFW
EAT THE QUAIL EGGS!!! The egg drop soup is supposed to go in the small plastic bag with hot water.
That's what I would have done.
Next time........I have a few more. TFW
*kneads the bag that your supposed to shake*..." Hmm..I dunno why the drink is like that..". 😂
Ain't it the truth!? TFW, Antonio!