Seasonal Vegetables – Endives / Romaine Lettuce

THERE ARE TWO leafy greens that are customarily used for maror during the Pesach Seder, romaine lettuce and endives (chicory). These vegetables are considered muchzak b’tolaim (likely to contain bugs) and therefore there is a Halachic obligation to clean and check them to ensure they are bug free.

OK Kosher’s Tolaim lab recommends the following procedure for both:

• REMOVE the outer leaves if they are not clean and discard them.
• DETACH all the leaves from the stem at the bottom and separate them from each other.
• SOAK in water with liquid soap for 5 minutes. After a five-minute soak, agitate the leaves in the water for another 2 minutes.
• EMPTY basin by removing the leaves with both hands (holding loosely) in small bunches and rinse under running water.
• SOAK AND AGITATE the leaves again in new clean water without soap for about 3 minutes.
• REMOVE the leaves and pour the water through a fine mesh cloth and check the cloth with a strong overhead light or lightbox. If insects are found, repeat the process until the cloth is insect-free. If, after checking for the third time, there are still insects, the leaves should not be  used.

*Alternatively, if a fine mesh is not available, each leaf can be carefully inspected under good lighting to ensure there are no bugs. However, this method is not recommended for large quantities, as it can be very labor-intensive, and fatigue may lead to oversight over time.