Whereas traditional street stalls serve only one dish, com stands offer a wide choice of ready-made toppings to accompany a bowl of rice.

ECONOMIST: As communism crumbles, a great cuisine revives

"My wife and I still eat a bowl of rice, two dishes of vegetables and drink a bowl of soup every day, " says Jiang, 48.

CNN: China's Rarest Man

They drove out the capitalists (meaning the Chinese), re-educated anybody suspected of having shared a bowl of rice with an American and scrupulously laid the groundwork for economic stagnation.

CNN: Power Plays, '75

In the meantime, there's always that low-tech fix if your beloved device has gone for an unplanned swim: Find a bowl and pick up a bag of rice.

CNN: Waterproof phones and tablets make a splash

And the United States wants to be a partner in helping this country, which used to be the rice bowl of Asia, to reestablish its capacity to feed its people and to care for its sick, and educate its children, and build its democratic institutions as you continue down the path of reform.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Speaks at the University of Yangon

Console yourself with dessert: the fermented-rice egg-drop soup tastes, intriguingly, like a bowl of lumpy, cold sake.

NEWYORKER: Biang!