"That guy said earlier, when he talked about aburi sushi, that aburi sushi means quickly searing the ingredients of nigiri sushi with a blowtorch, and that it needs meat with a relatively high fat content!"
"So that means we need pork? Or beef?"
"Who cares? Great Stamp are the easiest to hunt, so I'm going to catch another one."
"I'm going too!"
"And it seems like it also needs nori and meat floss."
"Where are we supposed to get nori from?!"
"And there was cucumber and corn too."
"Does this forest even have stuff like that?!"
Menchi, who had been paying close attention to what the examinees were saying and doing, looked more and more strange.
Very good. Roy had successfully led the examinees down the wrong path, with the sole exception of the bald ninja.
"Pfft. These idiots actually think high-fat meat means pork or beef. Some kinds of fish aren't low in fat either. Can't laugh, can't laugh. I can't get too smug either, or other people might notice. I should just pretend I don't know anything and quietly pass the exam on my own. That's what a smart person would do. I can't let it slip~~~ pfft!"
Watching all the examinees other than Gon and the others leave the workshop, Menchi rubbed her cheeks and thought to herself in a very odd mood that this time, she would probably be seeing quite a lot of very bizarre sushi.
At last, once everyone had left, Killua could not hold it in anymore and burst into laughter, rolling around on the floor.
"Hahahaha! Those idiots probably never imagined that what sushi actually needs is fish."
"Hahahaha! Exactly! Looks like the only ones who'll pass this test are us!" Leorio was laughing so hard beside him that he could barely straighten up.
"But sushi uses saltwater fish, and there are only freshwater fish in the forest." Kurapika pointed out the flaw.
"Don't worry. As for saltwater fish, I've got all you could ever need right here~" Roy said, waving his hand and tossing out a Capsule.
With a bang, several sea fish that were obviously very freshly dead appeared on each person's cutting board.
Roy had caught them earlier aboard the Ship: Sea God during the storm brought on by St. Elmo's Fire.
Menchi's eyes lit up. She was already certain that Roy was a Nen user, and now she suspected he also had some kind of storage ability.
Judging from the state of those fish, they were clearly still very fresh. Yes, any ability that helped with gourmet food was a good ability!
As for Gon and the others, they were already used to it. Only Killua looked openly envious.
"Ahhh! I want to learn 'that' so badly! What the hell is 'that,' anyway?!"
...
After teaching Gon and the others the method and giving them the fish, Roy paid them no further attention.
Gon and the others would not have let Roy make it for them anyway. They had hands and feet of their own, and someone had already told them how to do it. If they still could not make it after that, then there was nothing to be done.
Roy interlaced his fingers and cracked them loudly.
"It's time to show my true skill!"
Anyone who had seen that classic martial-arts cooking movie knew that in it, people could use martial arts and internal energy to cook, and the food they made tasted exceptionally good.
Roy was planning to prepare nigiri sushi using a method similar to that.
The only difference was that one used martial arts and internal force, while he would be using Ki.
Roy intended to try cooking with Ki.
As for why he was not using Nen? If Nen alone could make good food, then Gourmet Hunters would already be everywhere.
So ordinary Nen clearly did not have much practical use in cooking.
But Ki was different~
After a round of cooking, Roy presented the two portions of nigiri sushi he had prepared, including Android 18's share, to Menchi.
"Mmm~ These are made with genuine sea fish, and even the salt is sea salt obtained from evaporated seawater. This is a unique flavor I've never tasted before. So nigiri sushi can have a taste like this too!" Menchi could not help but praise it and savor the aftertaste after eating both portions.
"Of course. The true birthplace of nigiri sushi is my hometown, not some island nation. So what I made is the most authentic nigiri sushi flavor."
"So, does that mean we passed the exam, beautiful Examiner?"
Roy asked with perfect courtesy.
"Mhm. It tastes delicious. You've unquestionably passed."
Menchi first gave him her approval, then declared Roy qualified.
Toward Roy, who acknowledged and praised Gourmet Hunters, Menchi naturally felt quite a bit of goodwill.
But then her tone suddenly shifted.
"However..."
"However?"
Roy froze for a moment. Then he saw Menchi cast a sidelong glance at Android 18, who was talking with Buhara, and immediately understood. He could not help but smile.
"Beautiful Examiner, I happen to have quite a few lost recipe books from my hometown. I wonder if that interests you?"
"Lost recipe books?!" Menchi's eyes immediately shone.
To a Gourmet Hunter, the feeling of obtaining recipe books for dishes they had never seen before was the same as a Treasure Hunter finding an enormous treasure, or a Ruins Hunter excavating a brand-new lost ruin.
"What kind of recipes are they?"
(End of Chapter)
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[[email protected]/Zukooo]
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