Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Notebook: London Episode Rating Graph

From gourmet burgers to high-end patisserie, London is awash with delicious fast food. Rachel samples a selection of the capital’s exciting fast food, and demonstrates how such treats can be effortless to cook at home. She meets Lisa, whose popular hot Taiwanese sandwiches bring back memories of Rachel’s own childhood. And in south London, Rachel gets into the kitchen with Trinidadian cook Brian to create some intense flavours for his Caribbean Jerk Chicken. Back in her kitchen, Rachel creates a twist on an icon of fast food and shows us how to create breakfast, lunch and dinner from one quick bread recipe.

London is a vast and fast city, and life can be hectic – but sometimes it’s important to take things easy. Rachel enjoys some lazy days, uncovering the city’s quieter corners where she can wind down and take things easy. A peaceful bike ride along the canal melds into a lazy brunch and she meets with Tom, who rustles her up a summery salad from his urban garden – a space that acts as his larder as well his sanctuary. Back in her kitchen, Rachel cooks comforting food to suit a relaxed mood – with a cake perfect for a picnic, a melt-in-the-mouth pork dish that practically cooks itself and a vegetarian twist on a classic dish.

Rachel explores London’s love affair with the East and reflects how this mirrors her own European and Asian family mix. Reviving a favourite childhood tradition with some friends, Rachel selects lunch from Dim Sum trollies in China Town. She also joins Andrew, a young chef in west London, who teaches her a spectacular noodle pulling technique. Back in her kitchen, Rachel shows us how to use up leftover meat from a roast in an Asian bun, makes her favourite Malaysian dessert with a traditional British twist and cooks an intensely flavoured chicken dish from her mum that captures the fusion of East meets West.

London’s transport systems are iconic and ingrained on the Londoner’s psyche, not just as an essential part of life but part of the capital’s identity – and it’s London on the move that inspires Rachel’s cooking this time. She’s the guest at an unusual supper club where the food served up in a tube carriage, and she rolls her sleeves up to make sausage and mash for some hungry taxi drivers in one of London’s historic cab shelters. Back in her kitchen, Rachel creates a posh packed lunch and a healthy soup for busy people on the move, plus a sweet and colourful homage to the London Underground.

Rachel looks beyond the capital’s numerous chain stores and the mass-produced, and instead seeks out the individual, quirky and homespun food trends that catch her attention. She visits Ole, who has turned the basement of his north London home into a Norwegian style smokehouse for salmon. She also meets Lillie, a shopkeeper whose shelves are lined with bespoke preserves – all produced by hand on her hob at home. Back in her kitchen, Rachel gives us a cheat’s guide to smoked fish, finds delicious success in salting her own beef and takes home-baking to new heights.

Whether it is high-end or humble, there are many ways to treat ourselves – so in this final episode of the series, Rachel is pleasure seeking. She enjoys a decadent champagne afternoon tea in Mayfair with her girlfriends, followed by a frying stint behind the counter to discover the secrets of great fish and chips. Indulgence is the order of the day in her kitchen too – with some finger-licking ribs to get stuck into, a modern twist on traditional fish and chips, and Rachel’s own take on a bake for afternoon tea.