How To Cut Leeks

There is a new restaurant that has come up in your locality and your neighbors have given you the green signal saying that the food out there is absolutely yummy. Saturday evening having nothing to do, you decide to give the place a try. You take up a corner seat at the restaurant so that you get a nice feel of the place. The waiter hands over the menu book, and goes away to note down the order of the family sitting nearby. Glancing through the menu card, instead of zeroing down on a single item, you end up being confused. For some respite, you peep into the neighboring plates for a quick reference but end up getting more puzzled. Confused with the variety and distinct appearances, you finally call the waiter and order their specialty of the day. The waiter nods his head and leaves you with a smile. A few minutes pass by and the waiter reappears, this time with a white bowl set on a plate. The steamy, tempting smell of the recipe makes you close your eyes before you actually see what is served in the bowl. Overwhelmed by the alluring smell, you finished the soup in couple of minutes. You call the waiter for the bill and just as you pay, your inquisitive self gets the better of you and out pops the question, “What ingredient have you used in the soup?” Taken aback, the waiter responds that it is a potato leek soup. Several days pass by and then one fine evening, you again feel like treating your taste buds with a potato leek soup, the only difference being, this time you want to make it on your own. You collect all the ingredients required and just as you are about to start off with the preparation, you realize that the leeks are all dirty and grimy and need to be cleaned. What’s more, you don’t know how leeks are cut. But, fret not, for we have given below information that would help you in your endeavor.

Cutting Leeks

Preparing leeks for recipe involves little patience and cleaning work from the maker’s side. At first, lay the leeks on the cutting board. With the help of a sharp knife cut the root right from the thick end of the leek. Now move up to the leaves and cut the leaf part off to the white portion. The greener part is used to make vegetable stock while the white portion is used in cooking.
Cut the leaves into half and prepare them for washing. Leave one side of the leeks uncut that will later help in chopping. Cleaning leeks is an important part of preparing leek recipe as the leaves of leeks have many crevices where the dirt can crawl. There are two ways of cleaning leeks. You can resort to any one as both ensure better cleaning.
The first way is to take one half of the cut leek and peel off the first layer while keeping it still attached with other layers. Rinse thoroughly with cold water and check for any dirt still lying on leaves. In the same manner, wash every single layer.
Lay the leek, still lengthwise, on the cutting board. Now according to your need and use of recipe, cut the leeks carefully in round, slim and wide pieces.
The other way is relatively easy and includes cleaning the leeks by cutting them in halves with no layers remaining attached. To make small half circles of the stalk, slice the two halves horizontally. In a large bowl with cold water, submerge the sliced leeks. Separate the pieces of leeks with fingers to ensure water gets into every layer. Keep the leeks submerged in the water for ten minutes to allow dirt attached on leaves to sink down to the bottom of the bowl.
You can also use both ways by first separating the long layers with your fingers under cold water and then taking them to the cutting board to make small circular rounds. These rounds can be water soaked afterwards to clean sneaking grit if any.

Now that you have learnt easy ways to cut leeks, you are ready to try various recipes that involve usage of leeks. Happy experimenting and cooking!

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