At the age of 20, when he joined the army, Mr. Le Thanh Binh was assigned to be a "nurse". After that, he was sent to study at the Logistics Academy, then became a teacher at the Military School of Military Region 3.
Even though he has been retired for 16 years, Mr. Binh still clearly remembers the days when he and his comrades overcame hardships to make the soldiers' meals as decent as possible.
A hard time
Enlisting in the army in 1975, when the country had just been liberated and faced countless difficulties, Mr. Binh was assigned to the 285th Missile Regiment. The kitchen department was responsible for serving meals for nearly 100 officers and soldiers.
In Mr. Binh’s memory, the hardest thing for the cook back then was going to the market and cooking so that no one would go hungry. The soldiers had to look at each other when eating because they sat at the same table.
“Each 6-person tray has a food tray about 40cm in diameter. The food includes 1 salty dish, 1 bland dish, and a bowl of soup. The salty dish is usually fried meat or braised meat. The bland dish is stir-fried or boiled vegetables, mainly water spinach.”
Mr. Binh humorously said: “There is not much meat, it has to be sliced thinly, and left in the wind it will fly away. On average, each person only gets 2-3 pieces of meat.”
“Unmanned” soup is usually made from boiled vegetables. After boiling, leave some vegetables, add water, season with fish sauce and salt to make soup.
The soldiers' breakfast that day was also rice. There was no food in the breakfast, but only diluted fish sauce.
“Or we make a familiar fish sauce from burnt rice. The burnt rice is grilled on the stove to get the color, but not burnt black. Then, put it in water, mix in salt and seasoning powder, and it becomes a fish sauce for breakfast.
Another way is to make fish sauce by boiling banana leaves. Any unit that gets to eat rice with sesame salt for breakfast is considered very classy.
Back then, there was also a dish of rice mixed with galangal. The galangal was pounded, roasted, and if there was shrimp paste, mixed in to eat with rice. “After 1979, soldiers going into the forest to get galangal often encountered landmines, so from then on there was an order prohibiting digging for galangal in the forest.”
Not only was there a shortage of food, but kitchen equipment was also extremely simple. The most familiar items were cast iron pans and aluminum pots cast from things like plane wrecks and bomb shells.
Units with large numbers of troops had to cook rice in cauldrons. Each cauldron had a diameter of about 1-1.2m. Cooking rice in cauldrons, if not done properly, could easily result in burnt rice.
At times, the kitchen served 300-500 soldiers, and Mr. Binh alone had to cook 6-7 pots of rice at the same time, each pot containing 20-25kg of rice.
“Compared to the current electric rice cooker, cooking with a cauldron is much more difficult. But if the technique is good, rice cooked with a cauldron is even more delicious than rice cooked with an electric cooker today.”
In 1995-1996, soldiers began to increase production of some vegetables, chicken, pork, fish..., meals gradually improved.
Happy and sad memories
Mr. Binh confided that in the past, raising children was very difficult. “At that time, there was no electricity or fans. All day in the kitchen, it was hot, everyone was sweating, it was very hard.”
Not to mention, the cook has to wake up very early to prepare breakfast. Rice has to be divided at 5:30 a.m., so the kitchen staff has to wake up at 4 a.m. to cook.
“When I was a commander, I often woke up at 3:30 a.m. and lay down listening to see if there was any noise in the kitchen. If there was any noise, it meant someone was awake. Back then, there were no alarm clocks like today. If the whole unit had one, priority was given to the soldier on duty.”
Mr. Binh said that according to regulations, soldiers start working and practicing at around 6:30-7:00. Therefore, breakfast must be eaten on time, otherwise it will affect all activities of hundreds of people.
He recalled a happy memory of the days when his unit went to Saigon to carry out its mission.
In the years after liberation, in Saigon, beef was a familiar and cheaper dish than pork. That is why many people do not like to eat beef, and some people cannot eat it because of allergies, or cannot stand the smell…
“These two groups are different. The dislike group is those who can still eat but do not want to eat. Only those who cannot eat are given priority to be cooked in a special way.
There was a time when I saw that there were too many soldiers who reported 'abstaining from beef', every meal had to have 2-3 trays of 'abstaining from beef', so I thought of a way to find the 'fake abstainers'.
When cooking rice, I take a ladle of beef broth and pour it into the rice pot. At mealtime, those who are really 'abstinent' from beef just pick up their bowl of rice and put it down immediately. Those who are 'fakely abstaining' can still eat until the end of the meal without any questions.
Finally, I declare that from next day on there will be no preferential treatment for those who 'abstain from fake beef', everyone must accept because I have proof".
In Mr. Binh’s memory, almost every meal in the army was filled with camaraderie. “Whoever was sick would be given priority and given the best food. The kitchen would prioritize cooking porridge and making easy-to-eat dishes for those who were not feeling well.”
Also during his years in Saigon, Mr. Binh had a happy memory on Tet holiday in 1976 that he still remembers to this day.
“On the morning of the first day of Tet that year, the Regiment's Political Commissar came down to the unit to inspect and wish everyone a Happy New Year. The Political Commissar asked me about the menu for lunch that day.
The soldiers' Tet meal had many dishes such as boiled chicken, banh chung, gio cha... and even braised fish with pork belly. Seeing the braised fish dish, the Political Commissar criticized the kitchen for eating braised fish all year round, so why did they still give the soldiers this dish during Tet?
I said this braised fish dish was special, not like usual: 'Today, you guys get to eat braised mackerel'. Back then, mackerel was considered a luxury. The political commissar accepted my answer.
When he returned, I gave him a piece of braised mackerel. Later, the Political Commissar thanked him and said that the braised mackerel was very delicious and worthy of being displayed on the Tet tray.
During his time as a chef and logistics teacher, Mr. Binh was proud of his duty and that his teammates played an important role in ensuring the health, physical strength and spirit of officers and soldiers.
He said, as a chef, the highest goal is to make sure that when it's time for a meal, everyone is excited and looking forward to enjoying it. That is the greatest success of a chef.
Photo: Character provided
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