MRE Monday - Asian Style Beef Strips With Vegetables And Sauce

This week's MRE review was selected because of my love for Chinese food and it begins with the letter 'A'.

You can click to enlarge so that you can read the ingredients.

Nutritional Information:

Serving Size: 8.0 oz.
Calories: 220
Calories from fat: 90
Total Fat: 10g or 15% DV ( Daily Value )
Cholesterol: 60mg or 20% DV
Sodium: 1080mg or 45% DV
Total Carbohydrates: 13g or 4% DV
Dietary Fiber: 2g or 8% DV
Sugars: 4g
Protein: 22g
Vitamin A: 10% DV
Vitamin C: 0% DV
Calcium:  2% DV
Iron: 15%

Expectations:

I really had no preconceived idea about the taste of this MRE since we haven't had any MREs with an Asian influence.

The entire pouch of 8 ounces.

Realities:

Row, the second grader, got a small portion of mainly meat in his side dish. He enjoys going to Chinese buffets, and I didn't want to bias him against an Asian MRE by loading up his dish with the vegetables. He took his usual small bite, and waited a few seconds before saying, "Mmmmm, Good". It also got a thumbs up from Row, and he took another spoonful into his side dish. This is a solid endorsement from our seven year old.

Row's first sample is on the right.

Red Ant, the Pre-K four year old, took a very cautious bite and said that he didn't like it. I tried to question him further on the hows and whys, but got only the "I don't like it" response.

Mother-in-law was once again available for an older person's opinion. While she doesn't get voting rights for  the star rating system, her comments are also included. She noticed a smoky flavor, and quickly noted that it was okay. She approved of the "level of saltiness" in this MRE and agreed with the other adults about the Asian flavor.

Sweetheart liked the bamboo and water chesnuts, and noted that the MRE didn't have any real Asian flavor that was detectable. She thought that the MRE was a tad too salty and comically noted that the only Asian flavor in the MRE was the vegetables. Sweetheart commented that she would definitely eat it again, and said that "once again this would be another MRE good over rice".

Your host, K, liked the attention to detail with the noticeable grill marks on the meat strips. The MRE had a nice flavor and the meat had a good texture. Again, the lack of Asian flavor was jokingly noted, and closer examination of the label revealed that indeed there was a touch of ginger. The ginger was located at the very bottom of the ingredients list, which means that it has the least amount of all the ingredients in the MRE. I mistakenly thought that watercress was in the MRE but was corrected by my MIL who happens to have cooked with a lot of water chesnut in the past. I was surprised by the crispiness of the bamboo and water chesnut, and that made the dish much more enjoyable.

Final Thoughts:

The only real Asian flavor in these MREs are the vegetables, which are pleasantly crisp. This MRE with a little added flavor kick, could easily make it into our top 5 MRE Hall of Fame. We would easily consider this entree to be on the A-list of reorders, and would be pleased to find this for a dinner entree after a long day of bugging out, camping, hiking, or canoeing. I could easily see my wife happily adding some Sriracha sauce and dumping it over some rice.

Stars: * * * (3)