Gentleman's Night Canteen

Crisp and tender, salty and sweet.

The diametrically opposite qualities blend perfectly in the other party's mouth.

Coupled with the 'critic attack' caused by the fried food itself on Arturia who had never eaten fried food, Artoria couldn't wait to put the second 'shrimp tempura' into her mouth.

"Woooo~~"

The slightly blissful sobs made the two people beside them swallow their saliva.

It's just that Merlin is more concerned about his own 'request' than Arturia who simply wants to eat.

Although he just wanted to eat melons and watch the fun, from a certain point of view he was the one who took the work of the 'judges' the most seriously.

From the food presented by Meilin, it can be seen that Emiya Shiro chose to directly 'fry' the flowers in order to meet his 'request'.

Of course, the other party at this time also did not understand the cooking method of 'frying'.

A little curious, he also used a fork to put the 'pumpkin flower tempura' into his mouth.

"click~"

Although the volume of closed pumpkin flowers is much larger than that of fresh shrimps, it is more crisp because of the hollow interior.

Needless to say, the crispy dough after one bite.

Under the action of boiling oil, not only the water in the batter is removed, but also the thinner pumpkin flowers that are deliberately wrapped also lose some water, which makes the front petals more crispy and when the second half is bitten off This contrasts sharply with the more tender taste of the time.

In particular, the special fragrance of squash blossoms becomes more intense through deep-frying.

Even Merlin, who originally wanted to make trouble, had to admit that this dish was more delicious than he imagined.

[-]

Compared to Arturia and Merlin who instinctively give extra points to cooking because they don't understand 'fried food', Emiya Kiritsugu understands food like tempura. He knows the most delicious part of tempura. It was just when it was finished, when he was still waiting for the two of them to eat part of it before starting.

After all, he didn't really want to be a referee. The reason why he chose to be a referee was more to make friends with Lan Meng.

But even if he has a good relationship with Lan Meng, he still puts his own safety first.

The reason why he acted to grab a plate first was to ensure that he would not eat the "special portion". If he really planned to poison him, then the probability of being tricked would be the smallest, and he could pass Watch other people to keep yourself safe.

At this time, he finally made a preliminary confirmation before he put down his chopsticks.

The first bite was shrimp tempura. The slightly salty batter was paired with sweet shrimp. Emiya Kiritsugu couldn't help but nodded inwardly.

Not only shrimp tempura, but also pumpkin flower tempura and vegetable tempura are delicious.

This delicious food is countless times more delicious than the work meals he usually eats, but there is one thing that makes him extremely puzzled.

Why... I always feel that this tempura dish is so in line with my taste...

Chapter 27 The Perfect Match

If Emiya Shirou knew what Emiya Kiritsugu was thinking at this time, he would definitely tell him.

'Because this tempura dish is the first dish I learned for Kiritsugu you back then, in order to make Kiritsugu you smile after eating, this tempura dish perfectly suits Kiritsugu's taste, even I The reason why I borrowed the kitchen is precisely for this dish. '

But it is a pity that even though Emiya Kiritsugu is younger than Emiya Shirou's impression at this time, his ability to control emotions is not weak at all, making it impossible to distinguish the other party's thoughts at all.

He just stood silently watching the other party eat the tempura on the plate one by one.

It has to be said that Emiya Shirou was a little disappointed.

Obviously, although his intuition told him that the Emiya Kiritsugu in front of him should not be the Emiya Kiritsugu he knew, but he still hoped to test the other party through cooking, especially the one that Emiya Kiritsugu grabbed the first His behavior made him look forward to it even more.

It's a pity that the result of the trial is self-evident.

But at this moment, a burst of footsteps suddenly appeared, and the other three people looked in the direction of the kitchen almost in unison except Emiya Shiro, and it was no surprise that it was Lan Meng.

That's right, Blue Dream finished his cooking not much later than Emiya Shiro.

In fact, it takes much longer to make zongzi normally, but Lan Meng first used the method of soaking glutinous rice in hot water and saved a part of the time by buying other ingredients, and then because the glutinous rice itself was soaked. It takes less time to cook, and with the assistance of the pressure cooker, the rice dumplings did not take too long, and they were completed only after everyone tasted Emiya Shiro's tempura.

The hot rice dumplings were brought and placed in front of the three of them.

Looking at the dark green rice dumplings, even Emiya Kiritsugu, who often travels around the world, suddenly remembered that this is a traditional food of the Chinese dynasty.

But he can't be blamed for this, after all, even though he travels around the world, what he eats the most is all kinds of fast food, and such traditional food has only been heard of but never tasted.

But at least he still knows how to eat it.

When Lan Meng put it down, he decisively untied the string on it and peeled off the zong leaves.

It's just that what he didn't expect was that almost at the same time he peeled off the zong leaves, Lan Meng's panicked voice came.

"Wait?! Al!! You have to peel off the zongzi to eat! You can't eat the zongzi leaves!!"

Accompanied by Blue Dream's exclamation, Emiya Kiritsugu looked at Arturia beside him with an incredulous expression on his face.

At this time, Artoria had no intention of untying the rope and peeling off the rice dumpling leaves, but as before, she decisively picked up a rice dumpling with a fork and prepared to put it into her mouth.

Fortunately, Lan Meng's shouting finally had some effect. Arturia just bit off the zong leaves but did not start chewing.

At the same time, Arturia looked at embarrassed Emiya Kiritsugu who had already untied the rope and peeled off the leaves, and her teacher who seemed to be waiting for Lan Meng's explanation. She couldn't help coughing lightly. So I pretended nothing happened and started to untie the thread silently.

Fortunately, as the zongzi leaves were completely peeled off, the zongzi in front of Artoria was no different from the other two, and she might have fooled her if it wasn't for a corner of the zongzi.

However, as the zong leaves were peeled off, everyone finally entered the formal tasting stage.

This time Arturia cautiously did not speak first, but subconsciously glanced at Emiya Kiritsugu at the side.

Although Arturia's peeking is very concealed, for a killer who is very good at shooting black guns, he is also extremely sensitive to sight. After all, if he is not sensitive, he may change from a hunter to a prey one day.

However, Emiya Kiritsugu, who originally planned to gain Lanmeng's favorability, picked up the rice dumpling with his chopsticks and bit down without any hesitation just like before.

The first thing you feel when you bite into it is the unique sticky texture of glutinous rice, followed by a light meaty and floral aroma.

Emiya Kiritsugu saw the piece of meat that he had bitten off at a glance following the bitten cut face.

There is no doubt that this is the source of the aroma and oiliness of the meat.

But where does the floral scent come from?

After continuing to observe carefully, Emiya Kiritsugu finally found the source of the fragrance of the flower, the tiny sweet-scented osmanthus that had already become imperceptible after steaming.

Not only Emiya Kiritsugu, Merlin also found the source of the fragrance of flowers, but Artoria cared more about the food itself than the two who searched for the source of deliciousness due to curiosity or personality reasons.

For the foodie who almost ate up the stock of Lanmeng's barbecue before, Artoria not only didn't care about the oily light on the rice dumplings, but even looked forward to it.

Now many people simply cannot understand the ancient people's pursuit of fat meat, or more directly, 'animal fat'.

But in ancient times, or in other words, the other party’s era was relatively scarce, and there were not many opportunities for people to eat meat. That is to say, Artoria used to play wild and her stepbrother treated her better, otherwise she would never have Such a strong body.

In the eyes of people at that time, oily light did not mean overweight or disease, but more energy.

Although fresh shrimp tempura is indeed very delicious, there is no doubt that for a 'carnivore' like Artoria, large pieces of grilled meat are more realistic.

What surprised Arturia was that although the zongzi looked greasy, they were not as greasy as she had imagined.

And this is naturally due to the credit of sweet-scented osmanthus.

The reason why Osmanthus osmanthus was added to the zongzi is not just because of the so-called "requirement" to add a kind of flower to the zongzi. The choice of osmanthus and Lanmeng can be described as deliberate.

First of all, osmanthus itself has the effect of relieving greasy, which can stimulate the peristalsis of human intestinal tract and promote human digestion.

In fact, drinking a cup of refreshing osmanthus tea after eating greasy food can clear the stomach itself.

Secondly, the fragrance of sweet-scented osmanthus is strong and refreshing at the same time, and there will be no overwhelming feeling.

After simple marinating, the pork is wrapped in glutinous rice. After high-temperature cooking, not only the meat itself becomes soft and delicious, but also the gravy and the fragrance of flowers permeate into the glutinous rice. The already delicious meat dumpling is even better. Floors.

In Lanmeng's view, the combination of sweet-scented osmanthus and meat dumplings is perfect.

As expected, Artoria, Merlin, and Emiya Kiritsugu, who were purely foodies who ate two and then asked Lan Meng for a few, were all satisfied with this 'Osmanthus Fresh Meat Dumpling'.

It's just that after the dinner plate was put down, Lanmeng and Emiya Shirou unconsciously became nervous. After all, the selection results will be announced next...

Chapter 28 My Emiya Kiritsugu plan is perfect! (1/?)

Facing the gazes of Lan Meng and Emiya Shiro, the three 'judges' reacted differently.

Artoria frowned as if she was thinking about something, it was obvious that the dishes of the two were delicious, and she liked it very much;

Merlin was smiling as always, and it was impossible to guess what he was thinking;

Emiya Kiritsugu just silently stared at the plate in front of him without saying a word.

For Lan Meng, what he expects is only the "discussion" itself. Regardless of the final outcome, as long as Emiya Shirou tries his best, he can get what he wants, but Emiya Shirou is a little nervous after a long absence.

It was not until several minutes later that Arturia finally spoke.

"this……"

Artoria paused as soon as she opened her mouth, because she suddenly didn't know how to address Emiya Shirou, Emiya Shirou unconsciously glanced at Emiya Kiritsugu before introducing himself.

"Just call me Shiro."

"Well, Mr. Shiro's 'Tempura' is delicious, especially this is the first time I have tasted this special taste, but if I had to choose one, I would still choose Blue Dream' Zongzi', because I prefer food that is plentiful."

Although Artoria likes to eat, she is obviously not a real gourmet. She likes the rice dumplings made by Lanmeng or the tempura made by Emiya Shiro, but let her say one, two, three Four or five she certainly couldn't tell.

But now, as a judge, she has to distinguish the good from the bad. In the end, she had no choice but to not think about other things and just evaluate according to her own preferences.

In the end, Arturia, who prefers meat, especially heavy oil food, chose Lanmeng's zongzi.

After hearing Arturia's words, Emiya Shirou was taken aback for a moment, and then he couldn't help showing a helpless expression. After all, Artoria's evaluation was really 'amateur' enough, but it left him speechless , after all, no matter what the food, tasters always have their own preferences.

For example, he doesn't like to eat durian, but some people like it very much, so how should he refute the other party when they say that durian is delicious?

This purely subjective judgment cannot be commented on at all.

But this also means that Emiya Shirou must obtain the approval of the other two judges if he wants to win. He couldn't help looking at Merlin and Emiya Kiritsugu with hope.

Facing Emiya Shirou's slightly hopeful eyes, Merlin finally spoke first.

"To be honest, I don't know much about food, so I can't judge which dish is better, so I decided to evaluate it from other aspects. My request is 'flower'. You don’t have to digress whether it’s the store manager or Shiro-san, but in my opinion, the store manager’s choice is more ingenious.”

When he said this, he couldn't help but paused for a moment, as if he was considering his words before speaking again.

"I didn't even notice where the 'flower' was in this dish made by Mr. Manager at first, but it made my lips and teeth fragrant. It is relatively more ingenious, so...Mr. Shirou, I'm sorry."

Although Merlin smiled and said that he was not an expert, but his words were logical, which also made people wonder how to refute.

His pupils shrank slightly, and finally turned into a helpless sigh.

Although Emiya Shirou had fewer and fewer opportunities to cook since holding a gun, and he ate some canned food more, but he didn't expect that his once proud craftsmanship would be so easily defeated by others.

But in the end he still looked at the last judge——Emiya Kiritsugu.

Although Lan Meng's later "gamble" was indeed the reason for him to deal with it with all his strength, it is a pity that he did not touch the kitchen utensils for a long time. Although he tried his best to make tempura according to his own experience, he still did not achieve the most perfect tempura. state.

Although the craftsmanship may be a little rusty, he has never forgotten the ratio of ingredients, because this is the taste that his most important "family" likes.

Or it could be said that the purpose of agreeing to Lanmeng's request for discussion at first was to allow Emiya Kiritsugu to taste this taste.

Now that the competition has been announced as a failure, he still hopes that his original wish can be realized.

Seeing Emiya Kiritsugu with Emiya Shirou's slightly expectant gaze, he fell into silence instead.

In fact, his answer is not important anymore. The winner of this discussion is already Lanmeng. According to his plan, in order to gain Lanmeng's favorability, he must blow a wave of Lanmeng, but at this time, he doesn't know why he can't open it. mouth?

Finally, under everyone's expectation, he finally spoke.

"I prefer Mr. Shiro's tempura."

Emiya Kiritsugu's words surprised everyone present, but unlike senior conspiracy theorists like Emiya Kiritsugu, everyone was more curious about why he made such a choice.

Emiya Shirou in particular lowered his head unconsciously, obviously intending to cover up his emotions in this way.

At the same time, Emiya Kiritsugu's calm but indifferent voice sounded again.

"As Mr. Al and Mr. Merlin said, I also don't understand food. It's all delicious to me, but maybe because I'm a neon person, I prefer tempura, and I don't know what it is It's not a coincidence, I always feel that this tempura, whether it's the saltiness or the choice of ingredients... is very suitable for me, so I'm sorry, Mr. Manager."

When saying these words, Emiya Kiritsugu still didn't forget to look at Lan Meng from the corner of his eye.

While waiting for the food to be served before, Emiya Kiritsugu had actually silently decided that as long as the gap was not too outrageous, then he would directly say that Raimeng won, in order to increase his favorability, but when he saw that Raimeng was already He suddenly remembered something when he still had a very serious expression under the victory' situation.

Although Lan Meng took the initiative to provoke the so-called "discussion" this time, the question is whether what Lan Meng is really pursuing is pure victory?

Before, Lan Meng deliberately forced Emiya Shiro to make a full-fledged shot through a "gamble" method. This basically shows that Lan Meng cares more about the competition itself than winning. So can the other party really accept a lie?

In the end, Emiya Kiritsugu made a decision that was diametrically opposed to his previous plan.

In his opinion, Lan Meng had already won, and even if he voted for Emiya Shiro, Lan Meng would not be angry. If he couldn't do it, he would find an opportunity to tell the other party afterwards that this was a "vote of friendship" to give the other party a face.

It would be better if Lan Meng didn't care. What he said was indeed from the bottom of his heart. If Lan Meng was only interested in cooking, then his words should also be able to win Lan Meng's favor.

His Emiya Kiritsugu's plan is perfect, and he will always be invincible! !