Today's lunch features another interesting packaged noodle product, manufactured by the Vifon-Acecook Company of Saigon.

Forget the old standby college ramen noodle brands like Nissin, Marukan, or Top Ramen (sorry, guys) and give your nearest Asian grocery's typically well-stocked and diverse instant noodle section a whirl. Granted, you can often buy whitebread college ramen noodles for less than a dime per bag, but for a few cents more (between $.25 and $1.00) you can have an authentic Instant Noodle Experience.

With imported brands like Korea's NongShim (makers of Honey Twist, Cuttlefish, Sweet Potato and Onion Ring snacks!), Vietnam's Vifon, Thailand's Wai Wai or Kung Fu (from Taiwan, I believe) you'll still probably get more than a day's worth of sodium and fat in each packet - but you can make a healthier version by opting for non-fried noodle packs (or those with rice noodles, which are generally prepared without the traditional palm oil-dunk) and using only part of the enclosed flavor packets, rather than emptying the whole salty bag into your bowl.

Unlike the hallowed chicken-beef-pork college ramen trimvirate, noodles prepared for palates abroad tend to have unusual noodle textures* and seasonings - like pho, squid and seafood, pumpkin, curry pork, kimchi, Chinese Onion...and rather than a single one-size-fits all seasoning packet, imported instant noodles often have three or four separate packets containing not only the main flavor mix, but a flavoring oil (often onion-scented), a "heat" packet with ground chillies, and "toppers" like dehydrated vegetables, seaweed, etc., so there is considerable leeway for customizing your finished noodles.

Which brings me to this post's title. Intriguingly, the above Vifon package from today's lunch contains translations in English, Czech and Slovak: why? Are Czechs in the U.S. especially fond of Vietnamese instant noodles (I suppose I could answer that question myself) - or is there a supply line of noodles being exported to Eastern Europe? It turns out the latter is true, in part because many native Czechs have been introduced to that nation's dishes, brought there by a vibrant Vietnamese community now residing in the Czech Republic:

The Czech Republic boasts a large Vietnamese community, dating back to the days when the two countries were part of the Communist bloc. Today there are an estimated 40,000 Vietnamese here, the large majority of them working as market traders. The focal point of Prague's Vietnamese community is a huge open-air market known to Czechs as "Little Hanoi", and to Vietnamese as "Sapa", after an area of outstanding natural beauty in Vietnam.

More: Radio.cz's Rob Cameron interviews Mimi Nguyen, a 26-year old woman who has lived in the Czech Republic with her family for more than a decade.

* One brand of Vietnamese "won ton" style instant soup has the product name transliterated as "Hoành Thánh," but rather than the expected noodle wrappers stuffed with filling, hoành thánh are square "flocks" of noodle in broth.

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