PLA military cooks impress Chinese audiences with tasty meals made in the field, proving Chinese military’s logistical support capabilities
Published: Feb 22, 2021 06:08 PM

Chinese soldiers are cooking. Photo: screenshot of video uploaded on Sina Weibo

Chinese military program Junwulingjuli (lit: military force zero distance) captured the attention of Chinese netizens with its latest episode, which focused on food preparation for Chinese soldiers in the field. The tasty-looking meals, such as traditional bouilli, prepared by military cooks impressed viewers, who took it as a sign of the strength of the Chinese military's logistical support capabilities.

"I felt the episode was more like the food documentary A Bite of China when I saw the food preparation team heating sugar and covering pork with hot syrup in a forest," one Chinese netizen said, commenting on a scene in the show that also surprised many Chinese netizens.

The latest episode of Junwulingjuli, broadcast on China Central Television on Saturday, delved into the details and stories surrounding the food specialist teams in the theme are to talk about stories of cooking teams in the People's Liberation Army.

At the top of the episode, the host of the program noted that the "fighting capacity" at the table is also important for soldiers, referring to the importance of food supplies.

Even if it is just a drill, staying alert and finding a safe place with terrain suitable for preparing meals is essential.

The team of food specialists appearing on the program chose four Chinese dishes to show off during a drill, including fried beef with onions and bouilli.

Before making bouilli, a specialist first heated sugar until it melted into syrup, which was then used to fry pork. 

"This scene leads me to believe that the Chinese military's field food security work is more complicated than that of most countries because in other countries, the military generally does not have dishes that require soldiers to cover pork with sugar in a wild environment," the host said.

The scene also sparked heated discussion on Sina Weibo on Sunday.

"Before watching the program, I had never imagined that our soldiers could eat such traditional and delicious dishes in a combat environment. This proves the combat capacity of cooking specialists in the Chinese military," one netizen commented on Sina Weibo.

Some netizens wrote that the episode made them feel relieved as it showed that soldiers are well taken care of.