Mission accomplished: Creating 5-star dishes from SAF combat rations

SINGAPORE — For your fine dining pleasure this weekend, how about a three-course meal starting with a dramatically plated sweet potato quenelle that’s a feast for the eyes?

For the mains, try aromatic rice balls done two ways - a popsicle of chicken rice with mushrooms set in a bed of greens and dusted with a sprinkling of finely milled iced lemon tea powder, followed by a trio of smoky glutinous rice balls on a crunchy base.

Finish the meal on a sweet note with a deconstructed apricot fruit tart in chocolate soup, lightly dusted with oat-flavoured crumbs.

These elegantly plated dishes are not available at any restaurants in Singapore just yet. But you can try making them using combat ration packs from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

You read that right.

These photos, which would not be out of place in fine dining establishments or food shows on television like the Iron Chef, were created using ingredients all National Servicemen would be familiar with — hardtack biscuits, rice packs, fruit bars and instant cereal mix.

Professional photographer John Heng, 38, took this stylised series of photos recently as a way to mark 50 years of National Service (NS50). Netizens have applauded Mr Heng’s creative take on the rations, a staple during training for the NSmen, with Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen sharing the photos on Facebook on Thursday (Oct 19).

Mr Heng told TODAY that the idea for the photos started with a friend tagging him in a Facebook post about similar recreations in other countries, such as the US and China.

With the help of three fellow photographer friends — Ms Soh Quiling, Ms Gin Khoo and Mr Jimmy Sng — he served up his own take on how SAF combat rations can be transformed beyond recognition.

“We thought ‘What can we do to shake the tables and be fun?’ Then this idea came about and we thought we could try it out,” said Mr Heng, a former freelance photographer who now specialises in food photography.

But getting their hands on the combat rations proved difficult initially. Mr Heng and his friends later contacted the SAF, which offered to send them two packets each of the halal and non-halal ration packs.

“We are familiar with the combat rations as we’ve all eaten them during field training. But trying to reimagine them as fine dining is different,” Mr Heng recounted. “When I opened the packets, I was brought back to 10 to 15 years ago when I was eating these rations out in the field.”

The shoot, which took two days to complete, presented some challenges. For example, they encountered difficulties in keeping the chicken rice popsicle – the ingredients came from the non-halal pack 6 – on a stick as it was too soft.

The team solved that problem by freezing the rice ball, but ran into aesthetic issues as it looked too smooth.

They also found it difficult to create different dishes out of the rations as the textures of many items were similar. At times, they had to improvise.

To make crackers, for instance, they had to re-hydrate, blend and then bake the hardtack biscuits into thin wafers.

To boost the flavours and visual appeal of some dishes, such as the glutinous rice balls with peanut and hardtack biscuits, they used burnt aromatic leaves to lend a smoky flair to the presentation.

Mr Heng confessed to trying at least one dish - the glutinous rice balls. His verdict: “It was okay. I always wanted to try it heated up. Glutinous rice is like gold in army, everyone loves it.”

He has plans to work with food banks to create similar sets of photos that will help raise awareness about food wastage.

Meanwhile, he hopes his photos of the combat rations will inspire his fellow NSmen to be innovative during meal times in the field. “Hopefully, this will keep their spirits high in the field,” he said.