Cooking Guide
Cooking is a significant life skill for PVE content. Food provides valuable buffs to assist players in their battles, especially in dungeons and raids, where that extra bit of healing, DPS, or tankiness can be crucial. Learning to cook is an expensive and difficult road, however, as most recipes are locked behind weekly Hard dungeons or high prestige vendors.
You can gain cooking experience by eating or cooking food. The leveling line for cooking in the Ancestral Records menu (CTRL+Y) is called Chinese Dietetics, and leveling your cooking skill to 2 will unlock the Silver Spoon in Hand accolade. Increases in cooking level provide a boost to your chance to cook double portions of food.
The first step of cooking is unlocked through the Zhongnan Foothills questline. After reporting suspicious events to the mayor of Zhongnan Foothills, he provides a reward box which drops various food ingredients as well as your first recipe for Cold Pagoda Tree Noodles.
Learning the recipe advances you in a quest to cook for the first time. The game directs you to the cooking Hob in Chang'an. You can purchase a few cooking ingredients from the Food Trader nearby, but will need to obtain Lean Boneless Meat by either opening an Earth Beast Food Loot Box (dropped from all open world mobs), or buying the meat from the Dragonstar Auction.
Although recipes are scarce early in the game, they are actually not necessary for cooking food. When interacting with a cooking Hob you may notice a "Stew" option, which requires you to use Coal, purchasable in limited amounts from Food Traders. Stew foods can replicate any cooking recipe, but are character-limited and will expire after several days. Cooking stews is a good option for anyone who isn't interested in leveling cooking. However, any upcoming chefs who would like to sell food or provide some to friends/alliance members should work on unlocking recipes, as only food cooked according to recipes may be sold and traded.
Recommended Foods
Purple foods will have the highest stat increases, blue foods have good stat increases, and green foods have average stat increases. Aim to stock up on purple and blue foods, with green foods as backup reserves. Since food only lasts 20 minutes but can stack when eating a dish several times, you will want to have enough food to last you for your entire session.
These foods were recommended by my Guild Leader, TracyT, who has made several excellent guides on Hard Mode Dungeon mechanics.
Tanking
- Salted Duck
Healing
- Exquisite Broiled Vegetable Mix
- Broiled Vegetable Mix
- Fairy Tofu
- Prawn Tofu
DPS
- Exquisite Fillet of Fish
- Squirrel Mandarinfish
- Fillet of Fish
- Exquisite Pork
- Cold Pagoda Tree Noodles
Ingredients List
Food Traders
These food items are staples purchasable from any Food Traders.
- Coal (limit 10 per character/day)
- Soy Sauce
- Fresh Rice Noodles
- Distiller's Yeast
- Chinese Green Cabbage
- Wild Mushrooms
- Salt
- Summer-ripened Grapes
- Edible Wild Green Vegetables
- Sweet Osmanthus
- Soft Tofu
Meat
These meats are obtainable by opening Earth Beast Food Loot boxes, which are dropped from open world enemies. They are also potential rewards from completing Demon Elimination quests in Shanghuai Grasslands.
- Lean Boneless Meat
- Tender Fillet
- Roast Goose
- Jinhua Ham
Seafood
Fish and seafood are obtained through fishing at various Fishing Holes in open world. Only some fish are used for cooking recipes, though all can be used for improvised stews.
- Prawns (Jiangdu, Chang'an)
- Mandarin Fish (Chang'an, Weichuan Highlands)
- Speckled Perch (Zhongnan Foothills, Jiangdu)
- Red Bream (rare, from Gold fishing holes)
Other
Purple recipes may require additional crafting materials stored in the Qiankun bag.
- Water Jade (Blue nodes in Baxian Plateau)
- Rattan Crystal (Gold nodes in Weichuan Highlands, Shanghuai Grasslands)
Stew
Recipe List
Cold Pagoda Tree Noodles
Source
Mayor's reward box from completing the Chapter 4 questline in Zhongnan Foothills.
Stats
Perception +29, Physical Strength +22, Magic Power +22, HP +179
Ingredients
1x Lean Boneless Meat, 1x Edible Wild Greens, 3x Fresh Rice Noodles
Description
A good meal to combat the summer heat. It is made from flour and fresh juice from the leaves of the pagoda tree.
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Prawn Tofu
Source
Random drop from gathering
Stats
Healing Effect +7, Mastery +29, HP +176, Received XP +8%
Ingredients
1x Salt, 1x Prawns, 3x Soft Tofu
Description
A delicious and refreshing meal made with fresh tofu and prawn meat.
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Salted Duck
Source
Drop from Yemo City (Hard)
Stats
Physical/Magical Defense +6, Mastery +27, Crit Resistance +36
Ingredients
3x Roast Goose, 1x Sweet Osmanthus, 1x Salt
Description
Stewed, salted duck with sweet osmanthus fragrance is the most popular dish in Moon August in Nanjing.
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Broiled Vegetable Mix
Source
Drop from Nightmare Temple of Mercy (Hard)
Stats
Healing Effect +12, Haste +27, Physical/Magical Defense +6
Ingredients
1x Edible Wild Greens, 1x Wild Mushrooms, 3x Jinhua Ham
Description
It is crispy and delicious and looks wonderful and fresh. A good dish to cool down. Tastes best when fresh.
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Squirrel Mandarinfish
Source
Drop from Frostbitten Path (Hard)
Stats
Physical/Magical crit hit damage +27, Physical/Magical Power +36, HP +220
Ingredients
1x Distiller's Yeast, 1x Mandarin Fish, 1x Salt
Description
One of the famous dishes of Huaiyang. Looks like squirrel, tastes sweet and sour and is crispy on the outside but tender on the inside.
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Fairy Tofu
Source
Drop from Chou Prison (Hard)
Stats
Healing Effect +9, Mastery +36, HP +220
Ingredients
3x Soft Tofu, 3x Lean Boneless Meat, 1x Salt
Description
It is said that the recipe comes from an immortal and that ordinary people rarely get to enjoy it. It has a great effect on health.
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Exquisite Pork
Source
Drop from Raging River Ruins (Hard)
Stats
Physical/Magical Power +27, Haste +27, Physical/Magical Defense +7
Ingredients
2x Tender Fillet, 1x Edible Wild Greens, 1x Soy Sauce
Description
Minced pork that was prepared using spices for fish. It has a unique taste.
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Fillet of Fish
Source
Qin League Prestige Vendor
Cost
Level 3 Prestige, 68 gold 880 silver, 6880 Cloud Rider Command
Stats
Perception +36, Physical/Magical Power +27, HP +220
Ingredients
1x Red Bream, 1x Prawns, 1x Speckled Perch
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Exquisite Fillet of Fish
Source
Blood Ruvia Prestige Vendor
Cost
Level 3 Prestige, 168 gold 880 Ruvian tokens
Stats
Perception +45, Physical/Magical Power +34, HP +275
Ingredients
1x Red Bream, 2x Prawns, 2x Speckled Perch, 1x Water Jade
Description
Thin, delicate, light, and tough.
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Exquisite Broiled Vegetable Dish
Source
Turquoise Lantern Prestige Vendor
Cost
Level 3 Prestige, 168 gold 880 Blue Lotus Notes
Stats
Healing Effect +15, Haste +34, Physical/Magical Defense Level +8
Ingredients
3x Edible Wild Greens, 2x Wild Mushrooms, 4x Jinhua Ham, 1x Rattan Crystal
~ o ~ o ~ o ~ o ~
Rabbit Leg in Peach Sauce
Source
??
Stats
Perception +112, Physical/Magical Attack +84, HP +672
Ingredients
??
Description
Boiled leg of hare in sweet and sour sauce. Hare meat is often used, but it is said that some hare-like spirit animals would taste better.