Food Waste to Good Taste: 3 ways to use your leek tops

‘Food Waste to Good Taste’ is an exciting campaign that we are running in partnership with @HKU_Science and @Green.Hospitality. The study will measure the nutritional value of food scraps from restaurants across Hong Kong to highlight the local food waste issue in two folds: from an environmental perspective and from a health perspective. The campaign hopes to encourage restaurants and consumers to be more conscious of the loss of nutritious food waste and optimise food scraps into new recipes to further reduce food waste.

Fried Leek Tops

Because who doesn't love an extra crunch to ANY dish? Leek tops are some of the most discarded “scraps” in our kitchens, and they truly deserve more attention. For all of the recipes that only ask for the white and pale green parts of a leek, revert to this recipe if you are looking for a fun and delicious way to utilise the leek tops. It's easy and adds a crispy element to elevate any dish.

Ingredients:

• Leek tops (around 250 g)

• Vegetable oil for deep-frying

Recipe:

• Cut leek tops lengthwise into thin strips.

• Wash leek tops and dry thoroughly between sheets of paper towels.

• On a plate, layer a few sheets of paper towels to set aside for after frying the leek tops.

• In a large saucepan (at least 3 ½ inches deep), heat 1 inch of oil to 190ºC/375ºF.

• In small batches, fry the leek tops until golden, for about 10-15 seconds. Oil will bubble up quite high.

• Using a slotted spoon, transfer the golden leek tops onto the paper towels to dry.

• Once all the leek tops are fried, season with salt.

• Serve on top of any dish to add an extra crunch!

  Note: leek tops can be fried a day ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Leftover Vegetables Stock

We couldn't not re-share this recipe because it just works with whatever vegetable scraps you have got in your pantry! And it still stands as probably the handiest recipe EVER that you want to save in your repertoire: it’s simple, it’s zero-waste and it’s so easy. Whether you have wilted vegetables in your pantry or vegetable scraps that you can’t use in your dish, save ALL of them. You can even store them in a food storage bag in the freezer until you have collected enough variety to make a flavourful stock base. From floppy carrots to onion skins, to potato peels and leek tops, this recipe does not discriminate!

Ingredients:

• Leek tops

• Any wilted or unused vegetables 

• Vegetables scraps

Recipe:

• Look through your fridge/pantry for any veggies that are no longer in their peak condition (this includes the vegetables scraps you would have set aside like onion skins or leek tops, or wilted vegetables).

• Chop the wilted veggies into chunks.

• Store the veggie chunks and veggie scraps into a storage bag and place the bag in the freezer. Keep adding to the bag until full.

• When you’re ready to make a vegetable stock, take the veggie bag out of the freezer and boil your vegetables chunks and scraps for at least 30 minutes. Boil up to 2 hours to maximise the flavour.

• Strain the vegetable pieces, then add salt and pepper to taste.

• Use the delicious stock as a base for a soup or sauce. You can also pour the stock into an ice cube tray to freeze for later use.

Leek Top Pesto

Who knew leek top pesto was a thing? We sure didn't until we researched about the various ways to utilise this usually-discarded part of the leek. So, if you are looking for a unique pesto recipe that upcycles vegetable scraps, then you have come to the right place. Whether you want to use it in a salad dressing, pasta sauce or even sandwich spread, we hope you enjoy this leek top pesto recipe as much as we do!

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons of leek tops, chopped super fine 

• 6 to 8 tablespoons of rapeseed oil 

• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed 

• ¼ cup of nuts (pine nuts or walnuts or pecans or pistachios)

• ¼ teaspoon of sea salt 

• 1-2 grinds of black pepper 

• 1½ cups of basil leaves and stems, roughly chopped 

• 3 tablespoons of parsley leaves and stems, roughly chopped 

• Optional: 1 tablespoon of lemon juice 

Recipe:

• Heat some of the rapeseed oil in a pan then sauté the chopped leek tops over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.

• Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

• Add the crushed garlic and a pinch of salt into a food processor or blender and pulse until fine.

• Chop up the basil and parsley.

• Add the herbs, salt, pepper, sautéed leek tops, and nuts into the food processor along with the garlic, and blend again.

• Slowly add in some of the oil, this will bind the sauce. Keep mixing and adding more oil if necessary, until the pesto reaches the consistency you like.

• Season with salt and black pepper up to your taste.

  • Optional: add the lemon juice at the end to give it a little zest.

• Can be kept refrigerated for up to a week.