What's not to like with rice? It's our favorite starch here in the Islands, readily available and, oh, so good with just about any food we cook. It's a good reason to prepare a rice bowl for a Sunday Night Supper.

On a recent trip to Seoul, South Korea, a luncheon of bi bim bap, the Korean rice bowl, became the inspiration for this story. In a restaurant, a sizzling iron pot of rice was brought to the table. This was not just plain rice; there were morsels of chestnuts, gingko, black and red beans, carrots, sweet potato, eggplant and mushroom steamed together in the rice pot. A serving of this bountiful rice was transferred to a bowl.

On the table before me was an array of dishes from which I picked bits and pieces to put on top of my rice. What fun choosing from among the seasoned bean sprouts, fern shoots and greens, sauteed daikon, raw crab, spicy squid, dried fish, kim chee, green beans with garlic sprouts, sesame leaves and a tasty whole fried fish! A bit of this and a bit of that and even more of that ended up on my rice. It was all delicious, to say the least, very filling and, I think, quite healthy, given all the vegetables that were served.

When I returned home, I prepared a rice bowl supper — a bit different, but no less tasty and welcome as a meal. Here's what I did.

First, start with some good quality rice. Rice is not just rice, after all. Try one of the newer varieties of short-grain sushi rice — sweet, plump, sticky grains that are indescribably different from our Calrose standard. Tamaki Gold, Tamanishiki and Kokuho Rose are some of the brands that come to mind. If you want a little more nutritious rice without having to use brown rice, try haiga or sukoyaka, which are a little less polished so the germ is left intact, resulting in a more flavorful, nutty grain.

After rinsing your rice, add some ingredients such as fresh Hamakua mushrooms, Moloka'i purple sweet potato, locally grown eggplant or taro. Cut each ingredient into small pieces, then add them to the rice pot. Turn the rice cooker on and prepare your rice bowl toppings.

Plan on lots of these toppings. Buy some ready-made, such as seasoned fish, cuttlefish, fern shoots and sesame leaves. Be sure to have some takuan (yellow pickled radish) and kim chee of various kinds. A visit to Palama or Queen's supermarkets will offer many interesting choices.

Make a few blanched vegetable side dishes with fresh Island-grown watercress and bean sprouts; one or two fried morsels like zucchini or fish jun. You could even grill some beef or chicken, cutting it into bite-sized morsels.

This is also the perfect time to prepare a fresh fish, like akule or moi, fried crisp and left whole to pick at with chopsticks.

Lay all the different dishes out on the dining table. Serve everyone at the table a bowl of steaming hot rice. Everyone picks what they want and mixes it up with their rice, adding a sauce for extra spice and flavor.

A rice bowl supper is simple, delicious and nutritious. There are other rice bowl flavors you can assemble — let your creativity loose and come up with other combinations. For inspiration, go to shareyourtable.com.

We think you'll agree — a Sunday night rice bowl supper is a perfect meal for family conversation.