As well as practicing singing and dancing, each weekend she would travel back to Shenzhen and return with a week's worth of fresh ingredients.

"One small electric cooker can make a lot of things, such as cake and steamed buns," says Lin.

Cooking was always a hobby for her, as she performed jazz in bars and planned to carve out a career in music copyright management.

In 2012, she moved to London with her brother and sister to study English. As well as enjoying the fare in some of Europe's best Michelin-starred restaurants, her favorite hobby became wandering around local markets.

"I saw many ingredients that you wouldn't find at home, and the local farmers were so confident about their produce that they advised you how to get best the flavor," Lin recalls.