Quick Facts

Series

1.	Noodle Secrets Long Forgotten
2.	The Lost Secret of the Secret Ingredient
3.	Bad Feeling, Worse Result
4.	Secrets Lost, Forever? Secrets Lost, Forever?
5.	Catch and Carry
6.	Is That A Real Measurement?
7.	These Aren't Your Fatty Goatsteaks
8.	The Secret Ingredient Is...

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The Secret Ingredient Is...

Queue for and complete the Finding the Secret Ingredient scenario.

	Queue for your first noodle stand shift through Sungshin Ironpaw
	Find the Secret Ingredient

Description

The best way to go about doing this is through hands-on experience.

I've arranged for merchants, scholars, and farmers from all over Pandaria to come for a taste test of your soups. We'll get the best results if you can match them to the soups they prefer.

It's time to find the secret ingredient!

Completion

Rewards

You will learn:

	Pandaren Treasure Noodle Cart Kit

You will also receive: 22 80

Gains

Upon completion of this quest you will gain:

17,110 experience

Guides

BrekeMart: Your Cooking
Achievements One Stop
Shop! [Updated for Warlords!]

Mists of Pandaria:
Cooking Overview

Noodle Time and
Noodle Time
Bonus Scenario Guide

Comments

Comment by zzapgun

....nothing.

Comment by Nokomanida

Reference from Kung-Fu Panda when Po's dad reveals the "secret" of the noodles

Comment by Clebane

... in you!

Comment by Rankkor

"You are ready to be entrusted with the secret ingredient, of my "Secret Ingredient Soup". And then you will fulfill your destiny and take over the restaurant. Just as I took it over from my father, who took it over from his father, who won it from a friend in a game of Mahjong"

And here I thought blizzard wouldn't make even ONE reference to Kung Fu Panda for this expansion. I've never been happier to be wrong before =D

Comment by ssbattousai

If you were as confused as I was, this is not a "scenario" you find in a Dungeon Finder, you just talk to her again and click the "ready to discover the secret ingredient ...." solo scenario.

Click on each Pandaren that's waiting in line to any open seat, then give them noodle soup according to who they are:

Scholars eat your noodle soup #1
Merchants eat your noodle soup #2
Farmers eat your noodle soup #3

Click on the food prepared in front of your and click the designated Pandaren.

Sometimes they might stay for seconds, just toss them the same food again.

I didn't really need to use #4 or #5, you'll find out the secret ingredient after a few rounds.

Comment by petre

The scenario reminded me a LOT of the PC game Operation Mania. I'm sure there are dozens (hundreds?) of similar games, so I don't know if it's that particular one that might have inspired the design.

Comment by Lazare69

Well, I am on this phase of the quest, went into the solo scenario and ....nothing really. The quest giver is in there, I am standing at a counter. A patron comes and an arrow above her head. I click on her but there is NO food on the counter to click on or in the vehicle bar. I have tried this several times and a couple with NO ADDONS LOADED. Not a one of them but the reg blizz ones that I can't disable. Really looking forward to finishing this but can't. Any ideas? I do have a ticket in to Blizz from in game to see what they say.
Thanks in advance!

Comment by Dramfiolz

If you don't get the option to make any soup, try disabling any action bar mods you may be using. Dominos was the culprit for me.

Comment by rzzr

It is worth remembering that you can spam the noodle making buttons, don't think you have to wait and do one customer at a time., line up those bowls of noodles!

Comment by Valixene

If you have a problem seeing your noodle-making buttons (thanks to dominos and other ui addons), don't reload your ui, you can still use them through the 1-3 buttons on your keyboard. I reloaded my ui the first time, which made the buttons show up on my bar, but then once I finished I noticed I had lost credit for queuing for the instance, so I had to drop the quest and do it all over again.

A hint on doing the scenario: you can make soup, seat a customer, and throw soup to a customer at the same time, so don't wait between those actions to get through it faster and keep your lines down.

1-plain old soup (scolars like this best)
2-dragon nest soup (market people like this best)
3-pandaren treasure soup (farmers like this best)

This quest then becomes a daily you can do for a cooking token, plus a bonus daily that if you complete, rewards you a second token.

Comment by devlinv1

So first they added Farmville and Pokemon into the game. Now they've added Diner Dash.

Comment by peppehunter

Little tip:
Scholars eat your noodle soup #1 (Light Blue Clothing)
Merchants eat your noodle soup #2 (Almost Black Dark Blue Clothing)
Farmers eat your noodle soup #3 (Red Clothing)

Comment by Miranas

Don't forget your Chef's Hat!

(Sadly this doesn't make you cook the noodles faster.)

Comment by christianjlo

i cant enter the scenario... when i queue and accept it, the game freezes on loading screen and then disconnects me... after this for 10 min i cant enter with that char, it will disconect me on loading screen... after the 10 min... i can enter and i'm at the location where my hearthstone is. This happens to anyone else? Any ideas?

Comment by Sanerack

It's people! Lin's secret ingredient is people!

Comment by Arjayemm

The best tip I found here is from Lamor - its a bit down the page as a reply to someone else's post so people may miss it - just make number 3 like crazy and sling it at the customers as fast as you can until they leave happy. The main thing is to keep getting them seated and keep those noodles flying - thanks Lamor and happy noodling

Comment by Cymre

There are three types of customers which require three types of noodle soup. Successfully serving these customers the right type of soup before five leave unsatisfied will see you completing the objective in no time.

Here's what you need to remember:

Scholars (blue robes) prefer the common cheap soup (Button 1);
Merchants (dark clothes) prefer a tastier soup (Button 2 with fish);
Farmers (red checked shirt and straw hat) prefer a meaty soup to replenish their strength (Button 3).

To interact with the customer and the table, right-click on both as well as throwing the soup at the customer. You don't need to wait until the customer is seated before you make the soup, try and plan ahead by noting which customers are waiting in line to make it quicker. This will help with the bonus objective which relies on efficiency when it becomes a daily.

For those looking to see what the solo scenario is like, here's a video

Comment by Laced

There sometimes is a glitch to when they go to where they stand: So you don't get stuck clicking on them forever, just keep your eyes on the costumers who are coming.

Light blue= action button 1.
Dark blue= action button 2.
Red= action button 3.

As soon as you can see their color, click the action button and click them while they are running close to the spot they'd usually stand; preferably a SECOND before.) You want to click them till a green arrow is above their head, (and possibly seat them as soon as possible too. Not important but not a bad idea.)This is to avoid the glitch, then seat them.

If you see a red circle on their tummy- know that even while you toss food at them or seat them, just continue making the next batch of what they need.

Such as you see a (red)farmer with the red glowing circle on their tummy;
3, *Click them when they're striding close.* seat them, toss food when ready, press 3 again at any time 'soon.'

This leaves a dish ready for them when they are hungry again and often they will be near the time you seat another customer, but they will not be impatient so say another costumer who is- as soon as you see their color- ALSO make their dish, and 'click,' them when they're striding closely to their standing spot, and toss their food as soon as you can. Though keep in mind, impatient or not, you want to keep the flow going of costumers getting their food then leaving happy, so just always keep making dishes ready appropriately. You don't want to end up making dishes that are not needed; you can... it won't always harm the time, but it's a waste.

How making dishes that are not needed CAN harm is; keeping costumers waiting, and accidentally overloading the stand with food the current customers don't need. When you get used to this game you will notice if you're doing it at a correct speed, there will never be a panda left standing for long; it never shoves more than you should be able to logically handle, so if the tables are full of unfed pandas, and a panda or more is still waiting to be served; something is wasting time; and it's best that you're not blamable for this. The game is glitchy as is for now. ;)

Sometimes you will run into moments where you weren't fast enough. No worries, as long as you keep it up you won't waste your chance at the time bonus. You sometimes have to double click around (Like clicking your boss panda lady); sometimes right clicking about, and even seat another customer, but just try to keep the pace. Don't stop just because one panda is glitching for long. You'll get it soon anyways, and even better if you have their dish ready.

- Even if you do not click them right before they settle where they're going to stand, they won't always necessarily glitch, so no worries.

Comment by GravenTerenas

Extremely frustrating. Clicks just don't seem to register half the time. I get a load of pandas seated, bowls of noodles lined up on the counter, and it doesn't let me feed them.

Click on noodles. Click on customer.
Nothing happens.
Click on noodles again. Click on customer.
Nothing happens
Click on noodles again. Customer gets up and walks out.

I don't know if I'm trying to click too fast, but that shouldn't really be the problem in a timed challenge...

Comment by DesDestro

Okay...this may seem obvious to most people but I was completely oblivious to the fact that you have to RIGHT CLICK to interact with the customers/food. I spent a lot of time left clicking and screaming at my monitor.

Comment by GeneralK

this scenario is #$%^ing retarded. half the time your clicking nothing happens. other times impatient !@#$ing customers just get up and leave. and most of the mouse clicks dont register worth *!@#. cant blizz design something that doesnt suck ass.

Comment by Pinkpaw

So im on the questline and its a lot of stuffs to make a cart, but it has uses and then you need to make more if you want one or? :<

Comment by Kamillah

Wow, what a super frustrating quest this is.

I place the guests and start cooking their favoured noodle soup (according to their clothing). I also tried to prepare different soups to be ready to serve. The first couple of customers I am able to serve properly but after a few I get this "time circle" popping up and my character keeps saying "I can't cast that yet" and I am unalbe to deliver the ready-made soups.

Eventually my lined up soups will disappear and customers will get up and leave beacuse I'm unable to serve them - even if my char has their soup in her hands. The stupid timer thing prevents her from serving. Argh!

I see noone else has mentioned this timer thing, is it only me who has gotten that one?

Comment by seankreynolds

Turning on friendly health bars helped me finish this—I could see all the customers at a glance, with big, bright names above their heads.

Comment by jemaris

My 2 cents worth on this quest...

Right click on customer then right click the seat to seat them & IMMEDIATELY cook the required soup - don't wait for them to be seated, do it as soon as you've clicked the seat. If you've got time & can see what colour costume they have on in the queue you could even pre-cook their food - doesn't matter what order you do these - just watch their timer.

I found right-clicking the soup then double-left clicking the merchant was the best way to get the soup served to them (may not need to double left click, I just did out of habit).

Try not to leave a queue of people & watch the little timer circles above their heads (both the seated customers & the ones waiting).

Remember to cook 2 bowls for the 'Hungry' customers - line a spare up for them on the counter if you have time, otherwise serve the others & do it when you can but before their timer runs out.

Prioritize the impatient ones & get them done & out of the way.

I found this really frustrating at first, but once I got into a rhythm it just clicked & was easy to finish after a practice go or 2.

Comment by bigearlx

....."Love"? Who's been screwing with this thing?

Comment by bigearlx

Grunka-lunka-lunka-dee-dedient
You should not ask about the secret ingredient

Comment by misspooky

Disable Dominos!

Comment by conformity

Isn't anyone else concerned that Lin is still waiting for us to get back with her father's scroll?

Comment by hersfold

This scenario is somewhat similar to the game Diner Dash. The goal is to seat and serve as many customers as possible. Each customer wants a particular sort of noodle soup, and are only willing to wait a certain amount of time to get it. your job is to direct these customers to their seats, cook their food, and serve it. You are awarded points based on how well and how quickly you please your customers, but fail outright if five customers leave without being served.

The Basics:

Your "restaurant," the Noodle Stand has four tables which can each sit one customer, and three items on the menu. The general flow of play goes like this:

A customer arrives at the restaurant, coming from the direction of Sunsong Ranch. They'll run in and stand in front of the wok station waiting to be seated.
You seat the customer by clicking on them (see note on bugs below) and then on an open seat, indicated by a green orb.
You cook the food that they want. When the food is done, you'll hear a "ding" and a bowl of soup will appear on the counter in front of you.
You then deliver the customer's food by clicking the bowl of soup and then clicking on the customer.
The customer eats their soup, and leaves happy. Repeat until done.

How long do I have to deal with customers?

In most cases, you have 40 seconds to direct a customer to their seat, and 30 seconds to feed them once they've been seated.

Don't I have to take orders? How do I know what soup to make?

Blizzard made this a bit easy for us. You don't have to take orders, because each type of customer will consistently want the same sort of soup:

Scholars wear light blue and white robes. They want you to Make Noodle Soup (hotkey 1)
Merchants wear dark blue robes. They want you to Make Dragon's Nest Noodle Soup (hotkey 2)
Farmhands wear red plaid shirts and straw hats. They want you to Make Pandaren Treasures Noodle Soup (hotkey 3)

If you accidentially serve someone the wrong soup, they'll probably complain about it. You'll still get points from them (you did feed them, after all) but it won't be as many as if you'd fed them the correct soup.

This customer seems to hate me even though I gave them the correct soup.

Some customers will be a bit more difficult to deal with. "Impatient" customers (Impatient Scholar, Impatient Merchant, and Impatient Farmhand) want their food and they want it NOW. They'll only wait half as long as other customers to be seated and served (20 seconds and 15 seconds, respectively). You can identify impatient customers by the "sprinting" effect they have when joining the line.

"Hungry" customers (Hungry Scholar, Hungry Merchant, and Hungry Farmhand) will want a second bowl of soup (of the same type) once they've finished their first. You can identify them by the red orb in front of their stomachs that will remain until they've finished their first bowl. They'll also comment on how hungry they are when they're ready for their second serving. Hungry customers will give you additional points once they're done eating both bowls.

So what's the best way to get through this?

My strategy is this:

As the customer runs in, identify what sort of customer they are and start making soup. You should be able to see customers just before they get to the line of cooking stands.
As soon as the customer stops moving (NOT BEFORE, see note on bugs below), click on them, and direct them to the nearest seat.
If the customer before the one you just seated was hungry, start making their soup as soon as the current customer's soup is finished. It should be ready to serve just after they're ready to accept it.
By now the current customer should be seated and their soup should be done, so click on the soup, then the customer.

Do not attempt to prepare soups in advance so they're waiting for customers; the soup will get "cold" the longer it sits and the customer won't like it as much. With this strategy you should have plenty of time to serve customers as they come in, as soon as the food is ready, ensuring maximum points.

Oops, I messed up and nobody wants this stanky soup I made five minutes ago.

If you mess up an order or you don't like how one of those annoying pandas is looking at you, you can clear off your food counter or kick out everyone in the customer line by clicking the appropriate button on your toolbar: Clear Customers is hot key 4, and Clear Food is hot key 5 (I may have those reversed).

Bonus points

If you repeat a particular action several times in a row, you'll get some bonus points for the combo. You'll see this displayed as a Chaining Delivering or Chaining Seating buff up at the top of your screen, along with the number of actions you've completed in a row. The tooltip of the buff will display your current bonus. These bonuses aren't huge, so it's not really worth making customers wait in line so you can seat all four of them at once (remember, you lose points if they're left waiting a long time, and risk losing completely if they lose patience and leave). The strategy outlined above ensures that you will get a 350-point bonus for serving customers after each hungry customer, in addition to their extra points for being hungry.

BUGS

As noted in the other comments, this scenario is a little buggy. From time to time (more frequently for me lately, unfortunately) the game will refuse to seat a customer after you've selected them, insisting that you haven't actually seated them yet. The other comments seem to indicate that right-clicking, rather than left-clicking, is the best way to avoid this, but the most surefire way I've found is to wait until the customer has come to a full and complete stop before attempting to seat them. I've been able to seat customers as they run in, but it's a hit-or-miss thing, and lately there have been more misses than not.

If the bug happens, don't panic; all you have to do is wait until the next customer comes in, seat them, then try seating the first customer again. As long as you wait until the second customer stops, it SHOULD work this time, and the 350-point bonus for seating two people at once should balance out the points lost by making the first guy wait around. This should work even if the first customer is impatient.

I have reported this bug, but it still hasn't been fixed as of this post.

And what do I get for doing all of this?

By completing this quest, you'll be able to create the Pandaren Treasure Noodle Cart Kit, which is an incredibly awesome thing to bring into raids, because it allows people to get five high-stat food items which they can use after dying without someone having to pull out (and waste) and entire banquet. Not to mention, you can also pick up five noodles but are spared having to ear one yourself immediately; just popping the cart gives you the food buff.

On top of that, you'll get access to the daily quests Noodle Time and Noodle Time: Bonus from Sungshin Ironpaw, which allow you to earn two Ironpaw Tokens assuming you finish with the bonus timer. This allows you to earn a total of four tokens every day by also completing Nomi's A Token of Appreciation quest (which requires Cooking School Bell and for you to have completed his cooking training through all of his OTHER daily quests), and the rotating Ironpaw cook daily quest.

Comment by Quaglia

I wondder who was the develepoer paid for setting up this quest. And I wonder all the man-hours paid to implement the most stupid and buggged quest of WoW. Bosses at Blizz/Vivendi are gaining money from this pitiful experience.

Maybe also somebody at Wowhead is getting money for all of us craps unable to figure out what an idiot project manager pretended us to play.

Comment by Metzae

Ugh. Blizzard doesn't need to put EVERY lame cell phone game into WoW.

Comment by SoCalWoWGal

Perhaps this is a reference to the show Iron Chef , a Japanese cooking TV show or it's American counterpart Iron Chef America, "a cooking competition in which a challenger chef "battles" one of the resident "Iron Chefs" by cooking five or more dishes in a one-hour time slot based around a secret ingredient or ingredients, and sometimes theme."

The chefs and the viewers would oftentimes cringe when they found out what Today's Secret Ingredient Is....

Comment by strongpotato

Does it suddenly seem harder to accomplish the bonus now?

Use to be easy, now it's taking me to the final seconds.

The Secret Ingredient Is...

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