East

East is a vegetarian and vegan cookbook focused on Asian cuisine, written by British food writer Meera Sodha. The collection features 120 recipes drawn from countries across East and Southeast Asia, including India, Thailand, Japan, China, and Korea. The recipes prioritize accessibility for home cooks while maintaining authentic flavors and techniques. Each dish comes with clear instructions, readily available ingredients, and Sodha's personal notes about its origins or cultural significance. Beyond recipes, East serves as a guide to understanding the diverse vegetable-centric cooking traditions of Asia's many culinary regions. The book reflects broader shifts in contemporary cooking - the move toward plant-based eating, environmental consciousness, and the cross-pollination of global food cultures.

Readers highlight the recipes' accessibility and authenticity, with many noting success recreating dishes at home. The photography and design receive consistent praise. Multiple reviewers mention discovering new ingredients and techniques through clear instructions. Likes: - Simple ingredient lists with reasonable substitutions - Focus on quick weeknight-friendly recipes - Balance of familiar dishes and lesser-known regional specialties - Stories and context behind each recipe Dislikes: - Some ingredients hard to source outside major cities - A few recipes need measurement corrections - Several readers note the binding quality could be better Ratings: Goodreads: 4.42/5 (1,200+ ratings) Amazon: 4.7/5 (1,800+ ratings) "Finally, vegetarian Asian food that doesn't try to imitate meat dishes" - Goodreads reviewer "Changed how I cook vegetables" - Amazon reviewer "Would have liked more photos of technique/process steps" - Waterstones reviewer

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🌏 Meera Sodha wrote East after discovering that 60% of the recipes she cooked at home were Asian and plant-based, despite her background in Indian cuisine 📚 The book features over 120 vegetarian and vegan recipes spanning multiple Asian cuisines, including those from India, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, China, and Korea 🥬 Many recipes in East were inspired by Sodha's column in The Guardian called "The New Vegan," where she explores modern plant-based cooking 🌿 The author developed several recipes in the book specifically to address B12 deficiency, a common concern among vegans and vegetarians in Asian communities 🍜 The book's title plays on the dual meaning of "East" - referring both to the geographical origin of the recipes and to the act of eating ("to eat"), making it a clever culinary wordplay