When it comes to cleaning vegetables and fruits, your hands aren't all-powerful. Sun-drying, washing, peeling, and heating are the four key methods to remove pesticide residues from vegetables.
「Washing Vegetables」
1
Leafy Greens
Pay special attention when cleaning Chinese cabbage, mustard greens, and cabbage.
After purchasing leafy greens, spread them out to allow some pesticide to evaporate. Sunlight can break down pesticides; five minutes of exposure significantly reduces organochlorine content.
When washing rapeseed greens, cut from the root upward, ensuring each leaf is separated. Discard the root portion.
After separating leaves, rinse under running water. Pesticides on leaf surfaces will flow toward the base, leaving higher residue concentrations there.
2
Squash and Cucurbits
Peel cucumbers, eggplants, and radishes before eating. While eggplant skin contains nutrients, peeling is advisable when safety cannot be guaranteed.
For bitter melon, which is difficult to clean, pesticide residues accumulate in its ridges and crevices. Scrub with a toothbrush, then soak in a baking soda solution. Blanch bitter melon before consumption.
Cucumbers can be scrubbed with a little salt before peeling and eating.
3
Cruciferous Vegetables
After rinsing, soak in rice washing water or baking soda solution. Break into small pieces and rinse again. Blanch for a slightly longer time, then rinse thoroughly with clean water afterward.
4
Peppers
Pesticides are typically sprayed from top to bottom, making the stem end most prone to residue.Rinsing is more important than soaking. Scrub each surface thoroughly with a soft toothbrush. After rinsing under running water, soak in fresh water with two tablespoons of baking soda. This alkaline neutralization method reduces pesticides like organophosphates and carbamates. Baking soda is water-soluble, ensuring no residue remains.
5
Mushrooms
Add starch to water and stir in one direction to dislodge residue from crevices. Rinse thoroughly, boil briefly in hot water, then rinse again before use.
「Washing Fruits」
1
Peaches
Add a pinch of salt to water, soak peaches briefly, then gently rub them by hand to remove all fuzz.
2
Grapes
Place grapes in water, add two spoonfuls of flour or starch. Avoid vigorous rubbing—just gently toss them around. Then rinse thoroughly by brushing back and forth in water. The sticky properties of flour or starch will lift away impurities.
3
Apples
After rinsing apples to wet them, sprinkle a little salt on the skin. Hold the apple in both hands and gently rub it back and forth. This will quickly remove surface dirt. Then rinse thoroughly with water before eating.
4
Strawberries
1.First, rinse under running tap water for several minutes to remove most surface bacteria, pesticides, and other contaminants. 2. Soak strawberries in rice washing water (preferably the first rinse) and lightly salted water (half a tablespoon of salt per basin of water) for 3 minutes. These serve different purposes: alkaline rice water breaks down pesticides;while the saltwater solution helps dislodge insects and eggs adhering to the surface, facilitating their removal by rinsing, and also provides some disinfecting effect. 3. Rinse thoroughly under running tap water to remove the rice washing water, saltwater, and any remaining contaminants. 4. Rinse once more with clean water (or cooled boiled water).
5
Bayberries
After washing bayberries, soak them in saltwater for 20-30 minutes before consumption. Saltwater kills certain pathogens and helps eliminate parasites hidden within the fruit flesh.