Letter of Correction
In your article '"Young Turk Administrator' Jaw Shau-kong" in last month's issue, you said that I "operated an environmental engineering firm, but after becoming an elected official . . . turned it over to relatives. . . ." This is incorrect.
I have never operated any "environmental engineering firm," and no one in my family has either. Please make this correction to avoid creating any misunderstandings.
Jaw Shau-kong
Director
Environmental Protection Administration
Dear Editor:
Your article on the high rate of late marriages and divorces in the issue before last was very interesting, but there should have been more about late marriages: Are people who marry later happier? If they are, then there is nothing wrong with marrying late. And what is the divorce rate like for people who marry late? If it is lower, that proves that marrying late is a more careful decision. I wonder whether you will do a more in-depth study of the question some time?
There are some points in the chart "What's the Difference in a Decade?" that need clearing up:
1. The Chinese statement about the marriage to divorce ratio is misleading. It would be pretty awful if "one out of every 5.2 couples divorced in 1990." It should read "there were 5.2 marriages for each divorce" [like the English translation].
2. I don't understand the thousand rate. What is the basis of it?
Wu Hung-chien
Canada
Editor's Response: First, the caption was indeed misleading and should have read as you suggested. The figure was calculated by dividing the number of marriages for each year by the number of divorces. In 1990, there were 143,127 marriages and 20,482 divorces, for a ratio of 5.2 to 1.
Second, the 0/00 ratio indicated the number of marriages or divorces for the year in question divided by the total population at that time, the unit being one tenth of one percent.
Marriage is a topic of great interest, and we will continue to collect information and offer another in-depth article on the subject at the appropriate time.
Dear Editor:
The essay "On Eating" by Cheng Pao-chuan in last issue's Potpourri section showed me that Chinese people in Europe are practically in the same predicament when it comes to food as Chinese immigrants to the United States used to be a while back. In my studies of recipes over the years, I still don't know how to make an substitute for the stinky tofu she longs for so much, but I can share a little of what I have learned with Sinorama readers about making ma-chiang liang-mien (cold noodles in sesame paste) and hot and sour soup:
The best substitute for sesame paste in places where it is unavailable is peanut butter. To make one bowl of ma-chiang liang-mien, mix two tablespoons of peanut butter with some chopped garlic and green onion, two tablespoons of sesame oil, one teaspoon of cold water and a dash of soy sauce and salt, and then stir slowly in one direction. To make sauce for more noodles, increase the proportions. Cook the noodles, add extra ingredients like sliced cucumber strips and bean sprouts and you've got a tasty and refreshing dish.
Hot and sour soup can be made in places where red and white tofu is unavailable by steaming several eggs (without the shells) and chopping them into cubes. Add them to boiled water along with gold needle strips (dried tiger lily) and stirred raw egg. Thicken with starch and slowly add another stirred egg (take out some of the yolk if you like your soup whiter in color; take out some of the white if you like it more yellow). By now the soup is done so you can turn off the heat. Add some salt, MSG, pepper or two or three drops of vinegar and you've got a tasty imitation of hot and sour soup that will do in a pinch. Chinese mushrooms and wood ear can be added according to personal preference.
It would be nice if Chinese living overseas could share more of what they have learned with each other, especially French cuisine, which is world famous--I expect that French cooking is more attractive than jus cheese and salads. As for oysters, judging from my many years of experience work ing in a hospital, it's best to eat them cooked instead of raw. Getting sick is one of the worst things that can happen to you overseas, and many illnesses have a long incubation period, so I hope that readers living abroad will take good care of themselves and make use of Sinorama as channel to share what they have learned.
Alice Lee
United States