Chinese cuisines use sugar very differently from Western cuisines, and Christine starts her comparison in Paris and Athens where she looks at how Westerners interpret ‘sweet’. Traditionally, for the Chinese, sugar is predominantly used to achieve balance, but the liberal use of sugars in South East Asia Chinese cuisines are a culinary surprise. ‘Sweet’ is most traditionally found in the simple and omnipresent ingredient rice, so Cushing is off to the rice paddies of Malaysia follow the process of planting and processing. A visit to the night market in Bangkok’s China town with food writer Chawadee Nualkhair reveals the Thai sweet tooth. In Singapore, she connects with world famous pastry chef Janice Wong who is turning the sweet worlds of Singapore, Macau and Japan on their ear.