QuickAdvice: Kung Fu Panda 2 Interactive Cookbook

With a cool feature set rather than hundreds of recipes, this is an app best suited for kids and families or anyone who is looking for a simple introduction to Chinese cooking. Open the app to find 19 recipes: two salad recipes, eleven main dishes, and six desserts. You can create such dishes as Dragon Warrior Dumplings, Skadoosh Chicken with Pineapple, Viper’s Spring Rolls, and Coconut Rice Kaboom.

Once you’ve selected a menu, you’ll see the features displayed along the bottom. Going from left to right: Tap the chef’s hat for Recipe Shuffle. The unit converter button gives you American or European units, and also lets you adjust the recipes to 4, 8, 12, or 16 servings. Tap Share to share your recipes via email, Facebook, or Twitter. The next two buttons control the read-aloud feature, which is great for young cooks who can’t yet read. The microphone icon allows you to record your notes and comments for the recipe. The timer icon is, of course, a timer. The bookmark icon allows you to favorite the recipes you like. The home button take you back to the table of contents. The shopping cart icon lets you create a one-tap shopping list and send it to your email or printer. And finally, the “i” button reminds you what each icon represents.

The recipes are simple and easy-to-follow. Tap the photo to see a video; either a clip from the movie, or an instructional cooking video. You can watch the video small or tap the window expander to watch full-screen.

If you want to get your kids into the kitchen, this enticing feature-filled cooking app is a fun way to do so, particularly for fans of the Kung Fu Panda movie franchise. Chinese food can be tricky, but this app breaks it down and makes it very doable for beginners. I think this app is a lot of fun, and so I added it to our AppList entitled “iPad Apps for Cooks”.