Hello! I went to Vivocity with my family today after tuition to shop and had dinner at the same time. I love vivo! It has all the nice shops there. Hahaha. That's besides the point.

Anyway, we had our dinner at the ever-crowded Food Republic and i had you tiao (fried dough fritters) I have to say that these you tiaos are HEAVENLY. They are seriously one of the best on the island. Its crispy on the outside yet soft and fluffy on the inside. BUT (there's always a "but" to ruin it all) we know that almost all the delicious food are unhealthy. This is no exception.

So how is you tiao made? Simple. Basically, it is just two long fried sticks attached together, made up of flour. Then, here comes the "bad" part. This dough is SUBMERGED in a whole pot of vegetable oil. This oil is reused over and over again. We all know what this means, don't we? The silent killer: Trans fat.

A recent study found that a toxin called 4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal (HNE) forms when such oils as canola, corn, soybean and sunflower oils are reheated. Consumption of foods containing HNE from cooking oils has been associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease, stroke, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, various liver disorders, and cancer. Once absorbed in the body, HNE reacts with DNA, RNA and proteins affecting basic cellular processes.

I'm sure we have mentioned enough number of times to raise your awareness on trans fats. The media, too, has been calling out to people to reduce the intake of trans fats. Of course it would be best to avoid it completely but that's going to be difficult since food like you tiao is just too tasty!

Shanghainese especially love you tiao and it is common to see roadside stall selling them. However on last year 27th September, the Shanghai Daily reported that it is dangerous to buy you tiao from these stalls as it contains higher-than-standard levels of aluminum.

People add alum as an additive in the traditional cooking process of youtiao. Aluminum, the main ingredient of alum, can harm a human's immunity system, negatively impact metabolism and slow the assimilation of calcium and phosphorus. Ingesting too much aluminum can also increase the chance of suffering from dementia or bone soft disease.

That's scary right? But I'm sure that the you tiao at Food Republic is safe for consumption, not considering the trans fats of course. So conclusion of today: You tiao is very unhealthy due to the high amounts of trans fats and if you're in China, avoid buying from roadside stalls!

Before i go, here's a picture of me enjoying my you tiao and I'm not going to eat it till 3 months later man!

p.s. see the amount oil absorbed by the paper? ewww.