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Overview
Cooking in Starsand Island turns raw ingredients into meals that restore stamina, provide powerful buffs, and sell for significantly more than their raw components. A basic Water Spinach sells for 27 coins raw. Stir-Fried Water Spinach sells for 90. That 3-4x value multiplier makes cooking one of the best money-making strategies in the game, especially combined with farming.
Cooking stations
Three types of cooking stations are available, each capable of different recipe tiers:
Recipe | Details |
|---|---|
Campfire | The simplest station. Craft it early and cook basic meals like roasted vegetables and grilled fish. |
Gas Stove | Unlocked through crafting progression. Handles intermediate recipes including stir-fries and soups. |
Oven | The most advanced station. Required for baking, complex dishes, and the highest-tier recipes. |
Where to get recipes
Recipe | Details |
|---|---|
Aureleaf Kitchen | Run by Aurelis, open 8AM-10PM. The primary source for cooking recipes and prepared meals. |
Exploration Club | Run by Zephyria. Sells some recipes tied to Exploration profession ingredients. |
Other shops | Various shops around Starsand Town stock specific recipes related to their specialty. |
Quest rewards | Some recipes are given as rewards for completing NPC requests or profession quests. |
Cooking buffs
Certain meals grant temporary buffs when eaten. Most buffs last around 4 minutes and some stack up to 5x. The most useful buffs include:
Recipe | Details |
|---|---|
Creamy Seeds | Harvesting crops has a chance to drop regular or rare Everlasting Seeds. Stacks up to 5x. One of the most valuable buffs for farmers. |
Never Skunked | Fish bite immediately, no bait testing. Eliminates failed fishing attempts entirely. |
Flow Fishing | Fishing line will not break, making catches more consistent. |
Watering Mastery | The same amount of water irrigates more tiles. Saves stamina and time on large farms. Does not stack. |
Underwater Treasure | Fishing yields extra treasure chests alongside your catch. |
Battle Spirit | Boosts attack power. Stacks up to 5x. Useful before Moonlit Forest runs. |
Forest's Gift | Chance to recover ammo on hit; chance to find unknown ore chunks when mining. Stacks up to 3x. |
Bonus Timber / Bonus Ore | Increases wood or ore gathering yield respectively. |
Scavenger | Guarantees a reward every time you search a trash can. |
Field Prep Mastery | Reduces stamina cost when hoeing land. |
Pet Pal | Your active pet will come to you and grants an affection boost. |
See Cooking buffs for a full list with the specific recipes that grant each buff.
Money-making with cooking
Cooking is central to the most profitable money-making loops in the game:
Grow high-value crops on your farm
Cook them into dishes (3-4x value multiplier)
Sell the dishes directly or complete NPC requests from the Community Center bulletin board
The bulletin board posts new NPC requests each morning at 6AM. Many requests ask for cooked dishes and pay a premium over the shop sale price.
Tips
Always cook raw ingredients before selling. Even basic dishes multiply the sale value 3-4x.
Eat a meal with the Creamy Seeds buff before harvesting a large crop field to maximize Everlasting Seed drops.
Stock up on recipes from Aureleaf Kitchen early, Aurelis's shop closes at 10PM.
Check the Community Center bulletin board at 6AM for NPC food requests, they pay more than standard shop prices.
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