What's Cooking?

Summary
Celebrity chef Ming Tsai is coming to judge Lakewood Elementary's cooking contest, and Arthur thinks he has a shot at winning — if he can just get his dad to stop giving him advice.

Plot
The intro starts with Arthur teaching D.W. to do the show. She is getting it right, but Arthur cuts, saying they need a different scene. First, they tried the ocean, but it had too much motion. Next, they tried outer space, but Arthur interrupted her twice, which frustrates her.

What's Cooking?

Ming Tsai is coming to judge the kids' cooking contest at Lakewood Elementary, and Arthur decides to bake a chocolate cake. Jane reminds Arthur that he'll need help. The next day at the library, Sue Ellen met Arthur and Buster. She told them she's going to make randang (water-buffalo stew), much to Arthur and Buster's dismay. At Brain's house, Brain shows Arthur and Buster around his hydrophonic greenhouse.

Later at home, Arthur, David, and Buster are working on their chocolate cake. Buster suggests more sugar, but David stopped him. David gave Arthur and Buster a piece of advice: always use baking powder to make a successful chocolate cake.

The next day at the cafeteria, Muffy, Arthur, and Buster worry about the contest. At home, Arthur plans to wake up early to make the cake. The day of the contest comes, but Arthur's cake is flat, much to his horror.

As Arthur and Buster get to school, Muffy then reveals that Ming Tsai is actually nice. At the contest, Ming Tsai is tasting the food when David shows up and reveals Arthur was originally going to make a chocolate cake, but used baking soda instead of baking power, and made some brownies (much to Arthur and Buster’s surprise). David told Ming everything about Arthur’s mistake; however, Ming congratulated Arthur for his delicious brownies, and tells them about how pot stickers were made because of a mistake.

Ming then declares himself the winner of the contest, much to the shock and dismay of everyone else; Ming explains that the winner is the one who gets to eat the products of the cooking. He then gives them the brownies, declaring them all winners; the episode ends as the attendees all happily dig in to the food prepared for the contest.

Major

 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * David Read
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Ming Tsai
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Alan Powers

Minor

 * D.W. Read
 * Nigel Ratburn
 * Jane Read

Cameo

 * Kate Read
 * Fern Walters
 * George Lundgren
 * Alex
 * Binky Barnes
 * Jenna Morgan
 * Maria Pappas
 * Francine Frensky
 * Miss Sweetwater
 * Otis
 * Kenny
 * Prunella Deegan
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 2)
 * Jessica
 * Jack Weasel
 * Mary
 * 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
 * Beulah McInnerny
 * 3rd Grade Male Cat
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)
 * 3rd Grade Male Rat
 * 3rd Grade Male Rabbit
 * Helen
 * Patrick
 * Nancy
 * Norman Hedgehog
 * John

Trivia

 * Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. Together with an acidic ingredient like lemon juice or buttermilk it creates gas which makes the cake fluffy. Without acid it does nothing, hence why Arthur's cake did not rise and became brownies. Baking powder is baking soda mixed with a weak acid, so no further acid is needed.
 * The canisters in David's catering supplies read "SALT," "BAKING," and "SUGAR."
 * Ming Tsai voices himself as a guest star in this episode.
 * Karma: Mr. Read is doing Arthur's job, so he got called out by Arthur.
 * Moral: If a cooking class is for kids, don't give kids advice for your own benefits.
 * Timeline: In "Do You Believe in Magic?" a Ming Tsai poster is seen in the cafeteria, suggesting the two episodes may take place around the same time. Since that episode takes place six months away from D.W.'s birthday (March 1st), this episode could be set in September

Production notes

 * Both Arthur and Simply Ming are both produced by WGBH.

Errors

 * In Arthur's fantasy of competing against Ming Tsai, Ming is said to have completed his shrimp dish in 10 seconds, but it actually took 16 seconds.

Cultural References

 * Muffy's fantasy features her on a show called "American Chef Idol" which is an obvious parody of the show "," right down to having Ming Tsai in place of Simon Cowell, one of the show's original judges who left in 2010.

Home Video
DVD:
 * D.W., Bossy Boots (DVD)
 * Arthur: Season 10