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

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"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.

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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.

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

NEWYORKER: Biang!