With a reputation for being notoriously bland, I was curious to see how Meera treated this favourite amongst veggies. Meera Sodha gives such precise and accurate instructions, which is very reassuring to less experienced cooks. I begged Wichet Khongphoon, the owner-chef of the Thai restaurant Supawan in central London, to show me how to make a tom kha gai soup; and Shuko Oda, the Japanese chef, to teach me how to make her walnut miso. There are no frighteningly long ingredient lists or recherché spices - just simple recipes that really work.

East will show you how to whip up a swede laksa and a chard potato and coconut curry; how to make Kimchi pancakes or silken tofu with pine nuts. Take the cake out of the oven and leave to rest for exactly one minute, then place a sheet of baking paper over the top, followed by a large chopping board. Without cleaning the whisk, move on to the next bowl, whisking the yolks and caster sugar together for a couple of minutes until they double in volume, then stir the matcha flour mixture into the egg-yolk bowl. Expanding on her unrivalled knowledge of Indian cuisine demonstrated in her two previous cookbooks, Meera Sodha goes a step further with East, exploring the diverse and celebrated vegan and vegetarian dishes in Eastern cooking. Bring to the boil – but watch it doesn’t boil over – then turn the heat down to a whisper and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring fairly frequently to make sure the rice doesn’t stick and burn.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. 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. Such a good cookbook, none of the recipes take that long to make or require too many ingredients but they all taste great and have a really good variety. Her recipe instructions are very easy to follow and are also accurate, so if she says the sauce will be ready after simmering for 7 minutes, that’s when it will be ready! Taking you from India to Indonesia, Singapore to Japan, by way of China, Thailand, and Vietnam, East will show you how to whip up a chard potato and coconut curry and a swede laksa; how to make Kimchi pancakes, delicious dairy free black dal, and chilli tofu.

This time, I travelled by reading: I followed Fuchsia Dunlop around the streets of Chengdu and saw 90s Jakarta through Madhur Jaffrey’s eyes. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden and crisp on the bottom (test this by sliding a palette knife under the pancake; if it lifts away easily, it’s ready). Cook for 15 to 20 minutes over a medium heat, stirring frequently to remove as much water as possible, then add the garlic and soy sauce and cook for a further 5 minutes. Line your tin with non-stick baking paper, folding it tightly into the corners so the paper comes up the sides of the tray by 2cm.

I sailed across the Palk Strait to Sri Lanka, where lunch means a selection of curries each made from one main ingredient – beetroot, aubergine, pumpkin, cashew – served alongside a coconut dal (parippu). The biggest limitation of the past two years was not being able to travel to the countries whose food I wanted to explore, as I had for my Indian cookbooks.

Recipes we love: Chard Potato and Coconut Curry, Kimchi Pancakes, delicious Dairy Free Black Dal, Salted Miso Brownies and a no-churn Vietnamese Coffee Ice-cream. Again, the familiar-looking ingredients list caught my attention and, as with the curry, the recipe came out looking exactly like the picture.Using a large spatula, fold the egg whites into the yolks, being careful not to knock out too much air. I discovered the wonderful world of the Asian larder: fermented, pickled and salted ingredients – kimchi, sweet miso and gochujang added flavour in an instant. Add the peas, mint, lime juice, 3 tbsp of sesame oil and the salt, and pulse a few times (don’t blend: you don’t want soup). Separate the whites of the eggs from the yolks into two large bowls and add the caster sugar to the yolks. Here are surprising recipes for every day made using easy to find ingredients: mushroom and walnut samosas, oven-baked onion bhajis and beetroot and paneer kebabs.