Cooking? There's an app for that

Cooking is an important and valuable skill to learn. You can cook for yourself or cook for others—it is a skill set that can even help you make money. Learning to cook has never been easier for those in the Internet age, with apps featuring video, audio, text and photos all helping kitchen novices whip up delicious dishes.

All recipes dinner spinner

Developer: All Recipes Inc

Platform: iOS and Android

This app serves as a glorified recipe book that includes step-by-step video tutorials. Users can choose recipes from the daily list of recommended dishes or search for recipes. What sets ARDS apart, however, is its social element. Users can read reviews of recipes, which often have addendums. Take pork dumplings, for example, the simple recipe explains how to make the dish, but go into reviews or similar recipes and there will be a myriad of other choices, turning the pork dumpling into something more. It offers a free video cookbook for both Mac and PC users.

Daydaycook

Developer: DayDayCook.com

Platform: iOS and Android

Something that is severely lacking in the English-language app stores is the inclusion of a Chinese cuisine cookbook. But this homegrown cooking app offers a mix of user-created recipes and chef-made culinary masterpieces. It uses a mix of photo and video tutorials to help users learn to cook amazing Asian delights. The app is not without its problems. When you first open the app its interface is in Chinese. Secondly, the navigation isn't simple, with premium and free content being put together.

Dianping

Developer: dianping.com

Platform: iOS and Android

Dianping is a major restaurant listing and ranking website that also features discount deals. Select the city you are in and the food you want, and you will be provided with a list of restaurants. You can whittle down the list further by neighborhood, price, and even delivery; it even comes with nifty location- based services that can help you track down a restaurant. It also comes with various other listings and rankings. Sadly, this is app is only available in Chinese.