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Matkon

My saved recipe reels, as recipes I can actually cook from.

I save a LOT of cooking reels to a "Recipes" collection on Instagram, and the recipe is always spread across a fast video, a caption and "comment RECIPE and I'll send it to you." Matkon (מתכון, Hebrew for "recipe") does the boring part. It watches each reel, writes out what's said, reads the words on the screen, follows the link to the creator's own recipe page when there is one, and turns it all into a clean page with the ingredients, the amounts, the steps and the reel one tap away.

Sign in The code Docs My own Matkon is invite-only, for my family and friends, since it's built on my Instagram collection. The code is free to use.
Matkon on a phone, a tablet and a phone in dark mode: the home page with recipe cards, a recipe for brown butter chocolate chip cookies with its ingredients and steps, and cooking mode on the first step of a miso ramen

Only what the reel says

A mushroom spaghetti recipe whose reel says to comment PASTA: every ingredient marked no amount, the steps, and a Not in the reel list

This is the one rule that matters. Plenty of creators keep the amounts for "comment PASTA and I'll DM you," and Matkon never fills them in. It writes down everything the reel does show, marks each ingredient that has no amount, and lists what a cook would still need under "Not in the reel," so I know exactly what to look up or decide myself.

When the caption links the creator's blog or newsletter, that's usually where the amounts are, so it reads that too, and a recipe that looked half done comes out complete.

Cooking

One step at a time, in big letters, with that step's amounts right under it, so I'm not scrolling back up with flour on my hands. Timers come from the steps themselves and keep going if the page reloads, and it can read each step out loud.

Four phone screens: the home page, a miso ramen recipe, cooking mode on a pancake step with its amounts and two timers, and a Hebrew shakshuka recipe in dark mode

It remembers

Save a recipe, tap "I made it," rate it out of 10, and write yourself a note ("20g less sugar next time"). The ingredients you ticked and the step you're on are kept too, so I can start on the tablet and finish on my phone. History has what I cooked and when, and "Up next" learns from all of it what I'd want to make next. My ratings and notes even go into my Obsidian notes.

History with what was cooked and when, History with what Matkon brought in and who added it, rating and notes right after cooking, and Settings

Hebrew, and English

A shakshuka recipe in English, with the עברית button to switch back

Hebrew reels stay in Hebrew, right to left, and each one also gets an English version, one tap away. Reels in any other language come out in English straight away.

And it's one kitchen for the whole family: everyone gets their own account with their own memory, and anyone can add their own Instagram collection to it. I invite people by email.

Basically, my recipe collection is now something I can cook from. The pictures are from a demo with made-up recipes and public-domain food photos.