There's a really interesting concept here! The idea of crafting with simple, slow ingredients versus complex, efficient ones makes for a fun difficulty curve.
I did find myself wondering about the visual layout, and wondered if there might be a better way to read the ingredients at a glance. Perhaps a shelf on one side of the UI could hold the items as well as numbers on the side that may show, for instance, +1/+2/-1 in different colors. (If there's space, the keybinds could also be placed this way.)
Otherwise, the characters' writing makes for a fun detail, and the concept overall makes for a good puzzle!