Professions Home
Cooking in Pandaria
Levels 1 to 525
Sungshin Ironpaw stands at Halfhill Market, right across from the Halfhill flightpoint, in the Valley of the Four Winds on Pandaria's continent. A toon must be 85 or higher to start the quest for Zen Master cooking skill (525-600 skill).
Sungshin has a full set from 1 to 525 skill of pandaren dishes, most of which use ingredients sold by her. You will have to bring some fish and couple pieces of meat yourself, but by and large you can buy and cook your way to 525 without moving, since Sungshin is standing next to a cooking pot!
Here's what you'll need to bring with you to Halfhill Market:
- Approximately 350 gold as recommended by El's Anglin. Your gold experience may vary.
- 42 Golden Carp. Golden Carp are the new "vendorfish" for Pandaria, except the Carp is actually still useful for other things. Golden Carp are fishable from any open water, inland or coastal, in Pandaria.
- 2 Wildfowl Breast, which you can gather from killing just about any bird on Pandaria. There are some cranes in the marshes just north of Halfhill if you are level 86 or higher.
Once you meet up with Sungshin, take a look at what she sells. What you'll need to buy:
- 6 Instant Noodles
- 18 Needle Mushrooms
- 27 Pandaren Peaches
- 6 Silkworm Pupa
- 16 Yak Milk
- 17 Rice
- 6 Red Beans
- 6 Farm Chickens
- 6 Barley
- 2 Ginseng
Every dish gives you 5 skill points for each batch you make. From 1 to 480, you can learn a new recipe every 30 skill points or 6 dishes. After 480, the next dish is at 495 (make 3 dishes), then at 510 (make 3 more), then at 520 (make 2 dishes). You can level the last 5 points to 525 with just 1 Rice Pudding, but you can make 4 more to complete the quest for the Zen Master level of cooking.
Remember to train your cooking levels -- Journeyman, Expert, Artisan, Master, Grand Master, and Illustrious Master -- when you reach the highest skill point (if not earlier), so you don't overcook an item without gaining skill points!
(guide from WowInsider)
Level 525 to 600
Meet the Ironpaws
The Ironpaw family runs the cooking center of Halfhill Market. Other farmers in the Tillers Union attend to market, but they will come and go depending on the days. The Ironpaws will always be there, if roaming around the triangle a bit.
Sungshin Ironpaw you might already know from leveling your cooking skill to 525 as the generic cooking trainer and seller of basic pandaren ingredients.
Nam Ironpaw deals with Ironpaw Tokens, the cooking currency for Pandaria. He sells key cooking ingredients for banquets and the best foods, as well as fun items like the Flippable Table. Additionally, players can buy sacks of meat, fish, or vegetables for 1 Ironpaw Token each.
The other Ironpaws are each a Master of a particular Way of cooking:
- Jian is Master of the Oven.
- Bobo is Master of the Brew.
- Anthea is Master of the Wok.
- Yan is Master of the Steamer.
- Mei Mei is Master of the Pot.
- Kol is Master of the Grill.
Jian wanders from time to time to the center near Gina Mudclaw, but the others stay where they are. All but Bobo are standing near cooking pots.
Follow basic instructions
To unlock the Ways, you must show Sungshin that you can follow a recipe. First, she'll have the quest So You Want to Be a Chef... for you. The quest is simple:
- Learn the Sliced Peaches recipe from her.
- Buy 5 Pandaren Peaches from her.
- Cook 5 Sliced Peaches.
Next, Sungshin wants to make sure you are Ready for Greatness. This quest follows the same pattern as the previous: learn Rice Pudding, buy enough Rice and Yak Milk, and make 5 of it. You must be 85 or higher for this quest.
Now you've unlocked the Ways, and you can proceed through each one at your leisure. You can do one at a time or all simultaneously: it's up to you. Each Way will have a quest to gather ingredients for a special dish, and then another quest to cook that dish using the ingredients you gathered. It's just like Sungshin's quests: bring the ingredients, learn the recipe, cook the recipe, turn in the quest!
You'll notice your cooking profession window change a little after you learn a Way. Each Way has its own skill level, and then you have an overall cooking skill. At the top, you'll find your overall cooking skill, just like before Mists of Pandaria. Hovering over the bar for each Way will show you the exact number your skill is in that Way.
Your overall cooking skill is generally the highest number of any Way you have progressed in. However, it appears that if you do some dailies, such as those in Orgrimmar, or Darkmoon Faire, they give points in your overall skill, not the others, so it is possible to have an overall skill higher than any one of the Ways.
What Way should I follow?
Each of the Ways is dedicated to a particular primary stat. Which Way you do first can be your personal favored buff or whichever buff your raid would prefer you cook. If you like ...
- Agility, then try the Wok.
- Intellect, then try the Pot.
- Spirit, then try the Steamer.
- Strength, then try the Grill.
- Stamina, then try the Oven.
Way of the Brew doesn't focus on a primary stat, but instead provides food that restores health and mana while buffing the player with a fun buff.
(Guide from WowInsider).