Joyce Chen appears in USPS Celebrity Chefs Series. Provided to China Daily

"When people came to [Chinese] restaurants, they just wanted chow mien and chop suey, because that's all they knew," said Helen.

So Joyce Chen pioneered Chinese buffet. She would put authentic Chinese dishes next to roast turkey, beef, salad and other American dishes which were seldom cooked in China. People could sample authentic Chinese food, while still eating what they were used to.

Soon, more and more authentic Chinese dishes were served and American ones started to disappear. People started to wait in line.

"My mother learned to cook in China," said Helen. "In those days, people who came to this country were either very, very poor or upper-middle class, and they had servants. So, they actually didn't know how to cook."

Joyce Chen opened four restaurants all in the Boston area. Her guests have included former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and actor Danny Kaye, among others. In 1962, she self-published the Joyce Chen Cook Book, selling more than 6,000 copies. When it was published commercially, it sold more than 70,000 copies.

In 1967, she was invited by PBS to start a cooking show Joyce Chen Cooks. The program started with the sound of aeolian bells and the name of the dish in both English and Chinese, and Joyce Chen would greet viewers with Ni Hao, Ni Hao (Hello, How are you?)

Sometimes, she would conclude her 30-minute show with a few cultural tips. For example, it was better not to brag about your cooking skills, because it was considered rude to show off. A total of 26 episodes were produced and broadcast in the US, UK and Australia.

In 1971, she developed her own brand of cookware and in 1982 started selling "Joyce Chen Specialty Foods" bottled sauces.

Joyce Chen died in 1994 after a nine-year battle with Alzheimer's disease, but her legacy lives on.

In September, her fans staged a festival to remember Peking ravioli, a variation on Chinese dumplings introduced by Chen into the United States. She is often compared to Julia Child, who popularized French cooking in the US.

"Julia Child made it OK to experiment with French food. Joyce Chen made it OK to explore other kinds of food," Jamme Chantler, a French Canadian who developed an interest in Chinese food by watching Chen's show, told the Boston Globe.

On September 26, 2014, the United States Postal Service released a series of Limited Edition Celebrity Chefs Forever stamps, with Joyce Chen included. She was endorsed by the USPS as "one of America's most well-known promoters of Chinese food" and someone who "invited newcomers to sample unfamiliar dishes in ways that firmly established Chinese cuisine in the United States."