opening the thick archives of our military food research, we can clearly see that as early as 1951, the most authoritative research institute of our army-the Military Supplies and Equipment Research Institute of the General Logistics Department had made noodles, a traditional staple food loved by China people, into instant noodles and realized industrial production. When this instant noodle, which represents China's "first generation fast food", was transported to the front line of North Korea, it was not only welcomed by volunteers, but also shocked by Americans.
"Master Kong" instant noodles, which are popular among the people nowadays, are actually fast food invented by the Japanese in 1958 and introduced to China through Hong Kong and Taiwan. Nevertheless, it is seven years later than the instant noodles developed in China.
people will never forget that in the 196s and 197s, the compressed dry food developed by our army was all the rage, which seemed to become the "trump card" of fast food in the eyes of Chinese people overnight. At that time, people scrambled to buy a barrel of compressed dry food and asked acquaintances of the army to go through the back door. It is this kind of fast food that seems unsatisfactory now that its name has spread abroad. Not long ago, a female boss from Malaysia approached a research institute of the Military Supplies Department of the General Logistics Department and asked for 761-type compressed dry food to prepare for trade with Vietnamese businessmen. She kept shaking her head when the researchers introduced a new generation of compressed dry food to her. She said that Vietnamese people had eaten fast food in China and found 761-type compressed dry food the most delicious. Since the beginning of this year, some African countries have also bought compressed dry food developed by the army from China through relevant parties.
According to He Jinfeng, director of the Military Food Research Office of the Institute of Quartermaster Equipment of the General Logistics Department, the canned food series developed by our army in the early days also has a prominent reputation. In the era of material shortage, we can eat a can of military canned food, even a can of pickled cabbage, which is no less than a sumptuous meal today. At that time, the sailors visited their homes and brought a few cans of military cans, all of which looked more arrogant than other arms. Some children even secretly swear that they must be sailors when they grow up, because sailors have canned food.
Director He is an expert in the research of military food. He definitely told reporters that military food must be fast food, but fast food may not become military food. Fast food is only one aspect of the performance index of military food. In addition, military food also includes its nutritional structure, taste, continuous acceptability and portability, safety, shelf life and so on.
In addition to the instant noodles specially developed to resist US aggression and aid Korea, Director He summarized the research of military food in China as "three generations": the first generation was war food. It consists of three staple foods: compressed dry food, dehydrated noodles and dehydrated rice, and three non-staple foods: canned lunch meat, canned mixed meat fried with meat and canned diced meat with sauce. During this period, military food has formed the structure of main and non-staple food collocation. The second generation of Lu Qin series field food, such as dehydrated rice. In China, the soft-packed canned food and dehydrated rice are all first developed by our army in China. These foods are actually fast food with rice, vegetables and soup, which are in line with the eating habits of officers and men. Nowadays, the military food research of our army has entered the third generation development period, and a new type of "instant noodles" has come out, which not only tastes better than civilian instant noodles, but also can be soaked in boiling water or cold water, and its convenience has won the world applause. This noodle has won two national invention patents. At the same time, our army's fast food rice has also been successfully developed and will be equipped with troops one after another.
The packaging and heating method of this fast-food rice is very special: it is packed in a zipper-type food bag, and boiled water is added. After a few minutes, it forms a typical Chinese fast-food meal together with supporting non-staple food and soup. At the same time, in order to solve China people's habit of eating hot food, a flameless automatic heater with small size, light weight and high efficiency has also come out with fast food rice, and will soon enter the stage of industrial production.
Satisfying China people's eating habits ―― The development of military fast food has captured two major world problems
As we all know, the eating habits of China people are essentially different from those of westerners. For example, bread, cheese, jam and butter of the US military are both convenient fast food and good nutritious food. Obviously, we can't copy them. Because China's diet structure is mainly starch food, and the food pays attention to color, aroma and taste, which is essentially different from the western food structure which is mainly protein and fat. No matter how nutritious the food is, it loses its value if you can't eat it or don't want to eat it. Therefore, southerners love rice, while northerners love pasta. These two basic factors must be considered when developing military fast food in China.
However, rice and white flour are starch foods, and one of its biggest problems is that they will become "raw" after being left for a period of time under certain moisture, which is called "retrogradation" by professional slang. The retrogradated starch food not only loses its nutritional value, but also loses its normal taste. Starch retrogradation is an international problem, which has not been overcome by all countries in the world at present. The contradiction of starch retrogradation is not prominent in western countries because of the lack of starch food in their diet structure, but it is an unavoidable problem for us to study military fast food. Once upon a time, in order to solve this problem, generations of military food science and technology workers made unremitting efforts. They finally found an effective way to preserve starchy food by dehydration through circuitous methods. Instant rice and instant noodles on the market now are all products of this achievement. In 1999, military researchers cooperated with Wuxi University of Light Industry to discuss the mechanism of starch retrogradation in a deeper level, and found a more advanced method to solve the retrogradation problem. It can be predicted that in the near future, a kind of canned rice and noodles that meet the requirements of the army and will not be "reborn" for a long time will surely become the staple food in our army's "canned battlefield". And the successful development of these varieties will push the civil fast food < P > to a new level.
Wu Dezhi, a retired senior engineer from the Military Food Research Institute of the General Logistics Department, told reporters that the second worldwide problem encountered in the research of military fast food is the brittleness of canned vegetables. Anyone who is slightly familiar with canned food processing technology knows that once canned vegetables are sterilized, they will be rotten and soulless. Eating this kind of canned food is like chewing a sponge in your mouth, and it is not brittle at all. The way to improve crispness is to reduce the sterilization intensity, which will affect the shelf life of canned food. In order to solve this contradiction, after many twists and turns, they finally screened out a new bacteriostatic agent and developed canned vegetables with good brittleness. After this new type of canned vegetable was tried in the army, the officers and men all gave thumbs up, and the taste approval rate was over 9%.
high nutritional value-military fast food is second to none in the world fast food family
One of the most remarkable differences between military fast food and civilian fast food is that it places special emphasis on the nutritional value of food. Under field conditions, the labor intensity of officers and men is enormous, and a person consumes 4 calories per person per day in heavy military labor. The energy provided by military fast food must reach 4 calories to supplement the consumed physical needs, otherwise, it may "make ends meet" and affect normal training. While ensuring the basic supply of energy, we should also strengthen the supply of nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals. Therefore, military fast food is by no means a simple food for hunger, but a well-designed food with reasonable nutritional structure. In the era when fake and shoddy foods frequently occur, military fast food has always maintained a high popularity in society, which is inseparable from its scientific design and careful formula.
It is worth mentioning that the nutritional function of our military food has reached a considerable level, and a multi-variety and multi-nutrient "fast food" pattern is gradually taking shape. With the increasing complexity and arduousness of military struggle in the future, the development of military fast food with special functions has become a direction of military food research in our army. At present, our army is striving to enter the world's leading ranks in the nutritional research of military food.
long shelf life-military fast food has created the highest record of fast food "kingdom"
A very special requirement of military fast food is that the longer the shelf life, the better, which is determined by the particularity of military food supply. Every batch of products produced by the factory has to go through several turns, sometimes thousands of kilometers, and it takes as little as a few months to reach the users as much as a year. Therefore, the requirements for quality assurance are extremely strict < P >.
Take the compressed dry food developed by our army as an example. Its shelf life is quite long. In order to improve the shelf life of compressed dry food, researchers have tried their best. Compressed dry food is a high-fat product, and the main factor of deterioration comes from oxidation and degradation. In order to avoid this result, palm oil, which is not easy to oxidize, is added with antioxidants, and oxygen-pumped and nitrogen-filled iron cans are used for packaging, and finally sealed by soldering.
Fast-food rice is not easy to store. At present, the shelf life of civil fast food is generally about 6 months. The deterioration of fast-food rice is mainly caused by the oil in dried rice grains, and it produces a spicy taste after a long storage time. In order to solve the preservation problem of fast-food rice, researchers tried and tested it repeatedly in the process of developing fast-food rice, and set up many checkpoints like a sluice to finally achieve the purpose of long-term storage.
Other fast food in our army, such as canned food and instant noodles, are well-deserved fast food with the longest shelf life in China.
social call-when military fast food will be "converted from military to civilian"
There is no doubt that compared with domestic fast food, military food is the leader in convenience, taste, nutrition and shelf life, and it naturally becomes the "leader" of domestic fast food. Looking into the future, military food will undoubtedly lead the trend of fast food in China.
In the future, with the development of China's market economy and the acceleration of people's life rhythm, the potential fast food market will become bigger and bigger. Fast-food rice, military instant noodles, compressed dry food, canned rice porridge, soft canned rice, soft canned noodles, fast-food soup and self-heating food developed by the army have a wide market. According to Director He, some merchants have found them and are eager to transfer military fast food to the civilian market as soon as possible through technology transfer, technology investment and technology cooperation for the general public to enjoy. We look forward to the early arrival of this day.