This means her recipes and techniques are based on ancient ideas and align with the principles that foods are either warming or cooling – and consumed in season. Our relationship with the seasons, she says, is vital to health, mental clarity and balance.

On the stove, chickpeas simmer in a giant pot, the stew inspired by Sebbag’s Moroccan mother.

“I’ve translated many of my mother’s recipes into vegan dishes,” Sebbag says.

Nutrition, she adds, plays a key role in the body’s healthy functioning.

Dietary adjustments must be made to live a happy and healthy life, she says, which is somewhat ironic seeing Sebbag is serving up her advice – and her healthy dinner – on a day Hong Kong is in the grip of burger fever as American fast food chain In-N-Out Burger holds a one-day pop-up in the city.

Red meat patties and processed cheese on a bun is about as far removed from Sebbag’s food philosophy as you can get.

The best way to understand this is through reading her bestselling book, Five Seasons in the Kitchen: Zen Inspired Vegan Cooking – its 75 recipes are influenced by the humble food and practices of the Zen Buddhist monastery kitchens she has visited around the world.

Later in October Sebbag will be preparing meals for the monks at Hong Kong’s Su Bong Zen Monastery on Lantau Island, to mark its 31st anniversary.

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The monastery is a branch of the International Kwan Um School of Zen Buddhism that was founded by Seung Sahn, the first Korean Zen master to live and teach in the West.

The dishes she will serve on-site to the monks include creamy lentil soup, beet salad, Moroccan-style cauliflower and aubergine, okra with cherry tomatoes and basmati rice, pita bread, and home-made chocolate.

Taking a break from the kitchen, Sebbag shares how she went from owning a music/coffee shop in Tel Aviv, Israel at just 18 years old, to becoming a pioneer in the country’s clean living movement.

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Motherhood – she has five sons, including twins – deepened Sebbag’s desire for a more balanced life. Personal loss also lured her down the holistic path.

She saw her sick parents struggle on a diet high in sugar and even higher in prescription drugs.

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“I kept asking myself that there must be another way to live our life … Why do we need all these kinds of pills?” she says, adding she was keen to explore alternatives to Western medicine.

She delved into the macrobiotic diet that Japanese philosopher George Ohsawa developed, shaped by Zen principles to reduce consumption of animal products and eat locally grown, in-season organic foods in moderation.

She also explored her Jewish roots by immersing herself in the teachings of Nahmanides, the Spanish scholar and rabbi better known as Rambam, who was also a philosopher, poet, physician, and practitioner of the Jewish mystical tradition Kabbalah.

“People don’t look at the ingredients, so I teach them how to read the ingredients so they know what not to buy,” she says.

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Sebbag brings out a bowl of warm chickpeas dripping with smooth tahini and olive oil, and topped with a slice of chilli. It’s simple and sets the senses alight.

“Food is about understanding and obeying the laws of nature,” she says.

Her healthy eating plan also includes an occasional juice cleanse – she follows the 16/8 intermittent fasting plan that involves eating only during an eight-hour daily window and fasting for the remaining 16 hours.

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She also hosts detox retreats, some in Israel’s desert regions.

“I take groups once or twice a year for three days of yoga and detox … we drink smoothies and fresh juice and soup in the evenings,” she says. “It’s nurturing and gives your stomach a rest.”

Like occasionally restarting a computer, “we should also periodically detoxify our liver”, she says.

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Spring is a good time to detox, she adds.

“This is an excellent time to do a detox. Liver cleansing, which combines clear juices from leafy greens, fruits and vegetables, along with smoothies and vegetable soups, combining them with superfoods and antioxidants – this type of detox allows the digestive system to rest because when we drink and don’t chew, it enables the liver and cells in the body to flush out accumulated toxins.”

Here, Sebbag shares a vegan recipe that is ideal for humid Hong Kong.

Zucchini salad with champignon mushrooms and radish

Ingredients

• 2 zucchini

• 10 fresh champignon mushrooms

• 2 celery stalks

• 5 basil leaves

• 1 radish

• ¼ cup Hijiki seaweed, not soaked

Dressing

• Juice of ½ lemon

• 1 tsp mirin

• ½ tsp black pepper

• ½ tsp coarse Atlantic sea salt

• 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

1. Rinse vegetables thoroughly. Cut mushrooms, radish and zucchini into rounds and then into halves.

2. Chop celery stalks. Leave basil leaves whole.

3. Place salad ingredients in a bowl. Mix dressing ingredients and pour over vegetables. Garnish with Hijiki.