The bilingual version of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) poet and scholar Yuan Mei's manual of gastronomy, Suiyuan Shidan, will be released in the United States on Feb 5. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Soon, he was reading works on Chinese cuisine and gastronomy, but one name just kept popping up-Yuan Mei and his Suiyuan Shidan.

The book contains instructions for, and critiques of, Chinese cuisine as well as more than 300 recipes from the period.

Chen tried to find an English copy but discovered it had been translated only in bits and pieces.

He began translating Suiyuan Shidan on his blog called The Way of the Eating in 2013. Christensen saw the blog a year later.

Christensen, who is committed to introducing Chinese works to a global audience, says: "I learned that it was a very important work, well-known to culinary experts, but had never before been translated into English. What a thrilling discovery for a publisher!"

She reached out to Chen, asked him to complete the translation and offered to publish the work.

Tracking down copies of the 1792 edition of the book was a big challenge for Chen. But he finally located two copies.

Chen initially found the classical Chinese text tough to translate.