How do I wash leeks properly?
Grit sits between the layers, not on the outside, so rinsing a whole leek does nothing. Three methods depending on whether you need the leek whole, sliced or in lengths.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 5 min
- Read
- 3 min
Short answer
Slice the leek first, then wash. Put the sliced rings in a large bowl of cold water, swish them with your hands, and lift them out with a slotted spoon or your fingers — leaving the grit behind on the bottom of the bowl. Do not tip the bowl into a colander, which pours all the grit straight back over them.
Leeks are earthed up as they grow, which is what makes the white shank long and tender, and it is also how soil gets in between the layers. It is genuinely in the middle of the leek, not on the skin.
Step by step
- Trim first.Cut off the root plate and the very toughest dark green tops. Do not throw the green away — it is perfectly good in stock, in a soup that will be blended, or sliced very finely and cooked longer.
- For sliced leeks, cut then wash in a bowl.Slice into rings or half moons first, so every layer is opened. Tip into a big bowl of cold water, agitate hard with your hands so the rings separate, and let it settle for a minute. Grit sinks.
- Lift the leeks out — do not pour.Scoop them out with your hands or a slotted spoon into a colander. Pouring the bowl through a sieve deposits everything you just separated back on top of the leeks. This is the whole technique and it applies equally to salad leaves and to fresh spinach.
- For lengths or halves, split and fan under the tap.Cut lengthways from about 2 cm above the root, keeping the base intact so it holds together. Hold it under running cold water and fan the layers apart with your thumb, working from the top down.
- For a whole braised leek, split most of the way and rinse.Cut down through the leek to within a couple of centimetres of the root, rotate ninety degrees and cut again, so you have four attached quarters. Fan and rinse under the tap. It cooks and serves as a whole leek.
- Drain and dry before cooking.Shake them well and pat with a tea towel if they are going into a pan to soften in butter. Wet leeks steam rather than sweat, and they will not take on colour.
- Check by tasting one raw ring.Grit is instantly obvious and completely ruins a soup. One test ring after washing is worth the second wash it sometimes prompts.
Tips
- Supermarket leeks are usually trimmed and mostly clean. Leeks from a garden, a farm shop or a veg box are where the real grit lives and always need the bowl method.
- Leeks store better unwashed. Wash them when you cook them, not when you get them home.
- The dark green tops are excellent in stock, and finely sliced and slowly cooked they are perfectly good eating rather than waste.
- A leek cooked slowly in butter with a pinch of salt and a lid on, until it collapses into a soft sweet mass, is one of the best things you can put under a piece of fish.
Questions people ask
Can I wash a leek whole?
Only if it is unusually clean, and you cannot verify it. The grit is between the layers where water will not reach unless you open them.
How much of the green should I use?
Everything that is pliable and not yellowing. The very dark tough tips are best kept for stock; the mid-green is good food if you cook it a little longer.