If you love Asian-style food, then East is a wonderful resource if you want to start cooking more of it at home – without the meat. The Vietnamese are masters of the mouthwatering salad, elevating raw vegetables to heavenly places using a secret weapon, nuoc cham chay – a bright, hot, sweet-and-sour sauce that wakes up every neuron in your brain. Tap the tray to release any air bubbles, then bake for 12 minutes, or until the sponge springs back to the touch.

Just before serving, grind the remaining tablespoon of sugar, the pistachios and the edible flowers as finely as you can, using a mortar and pestle or an electric spice grinder.

Make the sauce by putting the lime juice, sugar, soy sauce, chillies and garlic into a jug or small bowl and mixing well. When I ran out of books, I packed Arya and a notebook into a baby carrier and went on a food safari, to find the best laksa, bun cha or massaman curry in London.

To serve, divide the wontons between the plates, drizzle some sauce over each portion, then scatter over some celery leaves.Huge numbers of people, growing by the day even then, were choosing to eat a more plant-based diet, whether for political, environmental or financial reasons. Tuck that end of parchment over that edge of the cake and begin to loosely roll the sponge from one short end to the other, rolling the baking parchment with it. Stir-fry for 1 minute, then add the onion and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown and is soft.

This triumph of a cookbook is a must for anyone who follows a meat-free diet, who is keen to introduce more vegetables into their daily cooking, or simply enjoys bringing the delicious flavours of the East into their kitchen at home.I had been soothed by my first congee in Hong Kong and had my taste buds electrified in London’s Chinatown by a bowl of dan dan noodles.