Hold up, are you sure it's second-best? That is likely the question from puzzled Singaporeans who've had the 'delight' of tasting our Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) field rations. 

But according to a review from two popular YouTubers from the UK, only the French pipped us to first place.

On Monday (Aug 2), best friends Joshua Carrott and Oliver Kendal uploaded their Singapore field rations review – garnering close to 400,000 views and 1,500 comments.

Their channel, with over two million subscribers, mainly reviews food items in a quirky and upbeat manner. For this video, they continue reviewing international army rations, having tried similar ones from Russia and Australia in the past year. 

Before trying anything, Kendal figured it would be best to first get in character. So, out came the jungle hat as well as the standard issue green and black camouflage cream.

Even Carrott was impressed, suggesting to his friend there was a bit of Rambo in him, before correcting himself and said the look gave off a Shrek vibe instead. “I thought you were smudging food paste on your face,” he added.

First up, instant coffee. Reading the instructions – from someone named BQ who sent this including the rations from Singapore – Carrott told Kendal to pour a small amount of coffee powder followed by a handful of water.

Just chew it all up and there you go, an instant coffee hack from seasoned outfield soldiers.

This hack could potentially be a lifesaver, especially for army personnel needing a bit of an energy boost during sentry duty. 

Kendal was surprisingly enjoying (okay, maybe enjoying is a bit of a push) the coffee mix. 

"Not terrible!" he said, giving a nod of approval. Carrott was similarly surprised at how decent an experience the coffee mix was.

Even as they tried their first field ration – a concoction of pasta, sausage, black pepper, and cheese – their minds were still fixed on the coffee.

ALSO READ: Photographer turns SAF combat rations into fine dining

Both were more impressed with the next flavour they tried but less with its consistency. "It has the exact consistency of poo," Kendal said as Carrott was about to have his first bite.

Not exactly words you'd want to hear with a fork in hand.

After composing himself, Joshua said: "If you had either of these [field rations] hot, I think they'd be really good."

He added that "the flavours are great" and were much better than the other army rations they've tried before.

The third field ration they tried was Javanese noodles with chicken frank. When Kendal asked "who's Java?" it left Carrott in stitches. 

Pushing the field ration out from its packaging, he then said: "It looks like a scarecrow's guts. Like the scarecrow remake of Saving Private Ryan."

Overall, Carrott felt Singapore's combat rations were superior to the Germans' and Koreans', which they've also tried and reviewed. However, the combat rations didn't impress enough to knock the French off their throne. 

The deciding factor was desserts. The barley nata de coco disappointed Carrott as he misunderstood "coco" and was expecting some kind of chocolate dessert.

As for the green bean dessert, both were confused given how green beans are generally used as an ingredient for savoury dishes in their cuisine. You can watch their full review below. 

This is not the first time our field rations were field tested overseas. In 2018, soldiers from the United States Army praised SAF field rations during Exercise Daring Warrior in the same year. 

In a clip, slightly over one minute, US soldiers can be seen trying out a few different varieties of SAF rations, which included sweet potato and red bean soup, makhani bean stew with chicken and glutinous rice with chicken.  

amierul@asiaone.com

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