Young green coconuts?

[wooster]

I want to be able to buy dozens of the young, green coconuts and hack them open with a machete, but all I can find are the ones that have been stripped and made ready to go at places like wholefoods. I want the unadulterated version for a big party. Does anyone know?

[jgilbert]

Just got home from Kauai. While there, we enjoyed fresh young coconuts that were just picked. The coconut water was tasty and the cononut meat was very soft and tender. Not a helpful post if you are looking for them in LA, but I just thought I would add my two cents.

[HoundDogz]

Lucky! I have not been to Hawaii in 7 years. I should go soon again. I did go to Miami 4 years ago and that's tropical and went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 6 years ago which is tropical. Love tropical zones.

[poggibonzzi]

Hacking a coconut isn't easy especially punching a hole thru the really hard inner shell. The big Asian supermarkets tend to have something in the freezer section that tastes as good as the best young coconuts from Mexico, Thailand or the Philippines. They are whole "shelled" coconuts from Thailand or the Philippines. The taste of the coconut water, once defrosted, is mildly sweet just like fresh ones and nothing like canned coconut water. Ideally, the best eating coconuts have meat that are so gel like, they can be slurped. These frozen coconuts tend to have unslurpable thicker meat but coconut gel is added so the texture/consistency of the meat of real young coconuts is present. Costs around $2.00 each.

[bhungry]

I believe unhusked coconut is illegal in Cali, due to the possibilities of having fruit flies inside. Foreign pests can cause a havoc in California Agriculture industry.

[HoundDogz]

Very true. I spoke to an importer of exotic fruits and asked if they import unhusked coconuts and the lady said no it's illegal because of exactly of what you said about risk of fruit flies. Next time I go to Florida or Hawaii maybe I can bring one back if it's allowed as a personal item but not as a produce item. I did that when I was a kid going from Hawaii to CA so maybe I can again.

[jgilbert]

When you leave Hawaii, your bags are subject to a US Dept. of Agriculture search, and sometimes they have dogs, so your chances of bringing one back are pretty slim.

[HoundDogz]

It was when I was a kid that I took a fresh coconut home to California. I know things were different then which was the 1970s. Back then they didn't go through all your stuff as in now. It is true what you say.

[salmon]

Looking for these as well. Did you end up getting them and if so where? I am hoping that they are more fresh than the shaved white ones flown in from thailand etc. and sitting around in stores forever.

[HoundDogz]

Hi I was just there the other day. They did not have them. If we are talking about the coconuts that are not husked but have the husk on like a real coconut I'd say no, I can't find them. That super Asian grocery store does not have them. The only thing I see are the ones that are husked already or the coconuts that are without husk but not shaved down to the nut but just the outside is cut off and it's a geometric shape. The only thing I had found that looks like it can be planted are shaved coconuts with sprouts coming out of the eyes and that was a year or so ago at San Gabriel Super Store but every time I go there they don't have any that are sprouting. That was a fluke when I found them. I did try to plant them but the shells cracked and nothing grew. If you have a whole coconut without being husked or shaved down then you can germinate them during summer in So Cal if you water enough and it's hot enough but they probably won't survive the winter though.

[Servorg]

I won't say that you'll find them for sure but my bet would be on either the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market or the Sunday Hollywood FM.

-----
Santa Monica Wednesday Farmers Market
2nd St and Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA

Hollywood Farmers Market
1600 Ivar Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

[HoundDogz]

Thanks for the heads up. I shold try those farmers markets. I used to work on 4th and Arizona in SM and used to go on Wednesday to the FM. I have not worked there in years but last year went to the FM and was surprised at how big it got. That FM is gigantic now.

I was in San Diego a few weeks ago and thought if I go to Tijuana there is no doubt that in the markets there I could get them. I did not go because I did not have my passport with me and nowadays they make you have a passport to go even to TJ.

[Servorg]

"I did not go because I did not have my passport with me and nowadays they make you have a passport to go even to TJ."

You don't need a passport to go into TJ, and then reenter the US. It may take you a bit longer if you are picked for "secondary" screening. But they have to let you back into your own country, by law:

“U.S. citizens cannot be denied entry to the United States; however, the documents that this rule requires are designed to establish citizenship and identity. Travelers without WHTI-compliant documents who claim U.S. citizenship will undergo additional inspection and processing until the inspecting officer is satisfied that the traveler is a U.S. citizen, which could lead to lengthy delays.”

[HoundDogz]

I thought some new law said that to go into TJ you need a passport but I'm wrong I see. That makes sense though. Like you say I am a US born citizen. So if I'm in TJ how can they say I can't come back to the US? They have to. I just thought at the border the US side won't let me exit into Mexico without a passport. I mean when I went to Puerto Vallarta a few years ago they, the US side in the LAX required a passport and we did not bring it because we thought to go anywhere in Mexico you did not need it. So we had to spend $40 on some temporary passport document just to leave the US to go to PV, Mexico.

If I went to TJ I'd park in San Ysidro and walk over into TJ. If they would let me in without my passport I should have done it. My coconuts should be waiting for me over there, totally unhusked.

Thanks for the info.

[boogiebaby]

I know they look cool and all, but if I were a guest at your big party, I'd rather carry a 2lb white/trimmed coconut as opposed to a 5lb full size green coconut that requires both my hands to hold it.

[wooster]

I'm getting them in DTLA, so problem is solved. It's not about carrying them around the party, but rather about having a guy with a machete dispatch them to order for my guests. It's part of a theme. It doesn't work the same with the shaved ones. If I could hang them up in a palm tree and send a Mayan kid up there to grab them first then I would consider the process complete, but that doesn't really work with my current landscaping.

[apple7blue]

DTLA? DownTown Los Angeles? Where?

[HoundDogz]

I wanna know too. About 2 miles from Chinatown there is a very big Chinese, or I should say Asian food super store. I forget the name but I have been in it a few years ago. They cater to both Chinese and South East Asians. The place has banana trees in the parking lot. I should drop by and see if this place has them. Also near the produce market area on Alameda there is another super store for Asian groceries. I should check that out too. Maybe that's the place.

[TracyS]

Saw these yesterday at 99 Ranch Market for $7.99 a case.

-----
99 Ranch
17713 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA

[apple7blue]

Yeah I see them at Asian groceries around right now in cases, don't know how prices compare.

[luckattack]

$7-9 a case of 9 is typical sale price. When not on sale they go up to $13 the lowest at the Asian grocery stores.

[wooster]

Those are good prices for me. I checked out the first suggestion of 99 Ranch and saw them, but they were the shaved version. I'm really looking for truly fresh off the tree style.

[apple7blue]

Oh I know what you mean. Sometimes they have that at markets, but they don't usually ship it like that--it increases costs. You can order it like that from farmers themselves. http://www.florida-coconuts.com/ They have California coconut palms, but I am not familiar with any Californian coconut farmers.

I am guessing because this is for a party you are insisting on the green cover. Cause you cannot honestly be saying it changes the taste . . .

[HoundDogz]

Not sure why they would call them California coconut palms because coconut trees can not grow in California without the aid of a green house. Must be a gimmick.

When I go to the Asian stores I see coconuts but the one already hacked of the outer shell and the only thing left is the brown inner nut. If you guys have seen the whole coconut at the 99 Ranch then that's something new to me. I'd like to buy a couple. Mostly the drinking kind I have seen have been cut open and with a straw in it already and the green outer shell cut off and only the white part left.

-----
99 Ranch
17713 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA

[apple7blue]

I don't really go to 99 Ranch, but I have seen them in Asian supermarkets. I have seen them in the ones in Alhambra/Monterey Park area and also Garden Grove. The farthest north in the United States a coconut palm has been known to grow outdoors is in Newport Beach, California along the Pacific Coast Highway. For coconut palms to survive in Southern California, they need sandy soil and minimal water in the winter to prevent root rot, and would benefit from root heating coils. I am guessing they have green houses and irrigation for farming.

-----
99 Ranch
17713 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA

[HoundDogz]

That's true, the furthest north a known coco palm has been grown outdoors is Newport Beach. It took it almost 20 years to get to the size of one in the tropics that would have taken probably 5 years but hey it's surviving just fine. At Cal Poly Pomona and at the Huntington Gardens they have each one coco palm successfully growing in a greenhouse but that is a greenhouse, outdoors probably not.

I try to grow them now and then and I had one grow almost one year without dying. Funny thing is it survived a wet fairly cold winter but come spring the weather got better then it died on me. It was not dying in winter or the beginning of spring but mid spring during pretty good weather it decided to fail on me.

I know in Hawaii and FLA you can easily buy young coconuts because they grow everywhere there and people can harvest and sell them but to ship them whole like that from Hawaii, FLA, Mexico, or overseas would be more money than if they were cut up already so that's why I thought I never see them in the stores, even the Asian stores but you guys see them. I have to go looking for some.

[HoundDogz]

I went to 99 Ranch and saw the Young Coconut case. I thought you guys were saying that the coconut is whole, I mean the whole green shell and everything but I must have misunderstood you guys because the case is of a coconut that has had the skin if you will cut off and you see only white and it can be kinda geometrical. I must have misunderstood you guys. I guess for most people the whole green skin is not a necessity and it is cheaper for shipping with every once that they can take off the weight.

-----
99 Ranch
17713 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA

[TracyS]

I actually did specifically see exactly what you're looking for - labeled as Young Green Coconuts - which actually dissuaded me from buying as I was looking for the white ones. This was at the 99 Ranch in Rowland Heights, but not sure how often their stock changes.

-----
99 Ranch
17713 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA

[HoundDogz]

Tracy, sorry what do you mean the white ones? Do you mean the ones with the skin shaved off and what is left is the white part which is kinda making the coconut look rather geometrical? If so do you mean you found whole green, non-shaven coconuts unlike the ones I found which are shaved?

I saw ones like these -

http://www.markusrothkranz.com/Resources/thai_coconuts.jpg

Did you find these -

http://www.coconuttree.org/wp-content...

I am looking for the second link, green ones like this. I will probably order from the link that the poster posted above.

[TracyS]

Sorry didn't catch this sooner - yes that's exactly what I'm saying. I was looking for the prepped ones - skinned and shaved to a point - and instead they had the whole green ones you're looking for. Try calling the Rowland Heights location to check.

[HoundDogz]

Tracy, thanks for the info. I'll try the Rowland Heights one.

[wooster]

It's more of a look than a taste, but it does preserve better when unshaven. Also, you can store the unshaven coconuts in a tub of ice without ruining the exterior.

[apple7blue]

Yeah I get you--with shipping a $21 box of 12 coconuts, a reasonable price turns into $73. Each coconut will be more than $6 . . . Maybe you should try to get it from Mexico . . .

[HoundDogz]

Man with shipping that makes it expensive. You are right maybe I should get them from Mexico. Next time I go to San Diego I should go to TJ. Then again Mexico is getting dangerous. I have tried Mexican stores here in Los Angeles yet no luck either. Mexico it might be.