Starsand Island Cooking Guide: Recipes, Buffs, and Processing
Because eating raw potatoes out of the dirt is a terrible way to restore your stamina.
If you are treating cooking in Starsand Island as an afterthought, you are making the game actively harder for yourself. Food is not just a quick way to top off your HP or energy gauge. High-end meals provide massive, time-limited buffs that can completely change how you farm, fish, and explore.
Cooking here is slightly different than your standard cozy game. Most dishes take actual, real-world time to cook. If you want to mass-produce food, you are going to need multiple stoves. Here is a breakdown of how the culinary system works, what buffs you should care about, and where to track down every recipe.
The Kitchen Setup
You cannot just throw a cabbage at a fire and expect a gourmet meal. You need a functioning kitchen setup to process raw materials into usable ingredients.
Campfire / Gas Stove: The main event. This is where the actual cooking happens. Since recipes take time, build a few of these.
Separator: The most important tool in your arsenal. This instantly processes raw crops into base ingredients (like turning wheat into flour).
Brewing Barrel: Used to turn crops into liquids like Vinegar. This takes time.
Jam Maker: Combines fruit and sugar. Also takes time.
Pickling Jar: Combines vegetables and salt. You guessed it, this takes time.
Why You Should Care About Buffs
Some recipes are just expensive ways to restore energy. The real value lies in the buffs. These are temporary boosts that trigger when you eat specific meals.
If you are heading into the Moonlit Forest to mine, you absolutely want the Forest's Gift buff (gives a chance to find ore chunks). If you are grinding fishing, eat something with Never Skunked (instant bites) or Flow Fishing (line won't break). There are even buffs for farming, like Watering Mastery (water more tiles) and Creamy Seeds (chance to drop immortal seeds when harvesting).
Always check a recipe's details before you cook it to see what buff it applies. Do not waste a high-tier fishing buff meal just because your health is slightly low.
The Best Recipes for Exploring
When you are deep in the Moonlit Forest getting your teeth kicked in, you do not want to be carrying complex, five-ingredient meals that take up your entire inventory. You want cheap, efficient food.
Where to Find Every Recipe
You start with basically nothing. You have to buy, earn, or steal (from chests) your culinary knowledge.
Aureleaf Kitchen (Purchased)
Head to town between 8 AM and 10 PM and interact with the cash register at the Aureleaf Kitchen. You can buy these outright.
Fresh Greens Plate
Jade Nutri Bowl
Mung Bean Soup
Black Tea Macaron
Seaweed Egg Drop Soup
Fish Head Tofu Soup
Seafood Wontons
Fire-Kissed Garlic
Silken Potato Mash
Star Canelight
Hot Dry Noodles
Golden Beef Noodles
Tofu Seaweed Soup
Cloud-Soft Toast
Wishful Heart Cookie
Golden Garlic Crisps
Sweet and Sour Cabbage
Tomato Egg Bloom
Tomato Beef Stew
Sauerkraut Fish
Watermelon Chili
Forest Treasure Bowl
Berry Daifuku
Spicy Chicken
Yangzhou Fried Rice
Braised Pork Belly
Ruby Borscht
Lemonade
The Exploration Club (Rank Unlocks)
These unlock as you rank up your exploration profession. They are heavily geared toward combat healing.
Apprentice: Lamb Skewers
Junior: Moonflower Tea
Intermediate: Mountain & Sea Skewers, Mushroom Basket
Senior: Eldergrain Roll, Flaming Ice Dumplings
Expert: Mystic Egg, Spirit Salad
Quest & Story Unlocks
Do your chores and talk to people to earn these.
Coconut Milk: Complete the "First Pot of Gold" stage.
Crispy Mushroom: Complete the "Decorate Your Home" stage.
Fried Egg: Learned during the Junior Rancher quests.
Grilled Fish: Complete the Apprentice Angler questline.
Mango Sago: Collect the 4th Cuisine Stamp.
Plain Noodles: Talk to Aurelis after the first Apprentice Farmer step.
Pumpkin and Corn Soup: Collect the 5th Cuisine Stamp.
Sauteed Grouper Fillet with Shrimp Roe: Collect the 2nd Cuisine Stamp.
Smashed Cucumber: Complete the Junior Farmer questline.
Soup Dumplings: Complete the "First Steps" quest.
Spicy Boiled Beef: Collect the 1st Cuisine Stamp.
Strawberry Mousse: Collect the 3rd Cuisine Stamp.
Looted Recipes
You have to physically find these in chests hidden around the map.
Chilled Twilight Salad: Moonlit Forest chest.
Grilled Mushroom Skewers: Moonlit Forest chest.
Mirthshroom Soup: Moonlit Forest chest.
Mushroom Soup: Moonlit Forest chest.
Stir-fried Vegetables with Meat: Happiness Seed Shop chest.
