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April 7, 2010 8:47 PM Subscribe
Where can I get lime leaves in the LA area, the nearer to Burbank the better?
I want lime leaves for a recipe, but I can't find them anywhere. I have checked Trader Joe's. I have checked Whole Foods. I have checked Henry's. I have checked Ralph's. I have checked a few Armenian grocery stores, just because they're nearby. I checked a HUGE Asian grocery store in Arcadia plus some others, and I was really expecting to find them there, but they weren't.
I checked for fresh. I checked for frozen. I checked the spices and canned stuff aisles, just in case.
I cannot find lime leaves, in any form, anywhere.
Please hope me. Do you know a place that, for certain, sells lime leaves? The standard "check Asian super markets" advice has not panned out for me, and I'm getting tired of traveling 30+miles and coming up empty handed.
I want lime leaves for a recipe, but I can't find them anywhere. I have checked Trader Joe's. I have checked Whole Foods. I have checked Henry's. I have checked Ralph's. I have checked a few Armenian grocery stores, just because they're nearby. I checked a HUGE Asian grocery store in Arcadia plus some others, and I was really expecting to find them there, but they weren't.
I checked for fresh. I checked for frozen. I checked the spices and canned stuff aisles, just in case.
I cannot find lime leaves, in any form, anywhere.
Please hope me. Do you know a place that, for certain, sells lime leaves? The standard "check Asian super markets" advice has not panned out for me, and I'm getting tired of traveling 30+miles and coming up empty handed.
There are lime trees all over this city. Searching flickr I saw pictures of some at the Burbank Yahoo office complex plaza thingy, which is (I think) at Empire and Hollywood Way, right across from the airport.
posted by carsonb at 9:03 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by carsonb at 9:03 PM on April 7, 2010
yes yes yes! three cheers for stealing them! ;) i have a lemon tree in my front yard (near silverlake) those would probably work, right? want some?
posted by sexyrobot at 9:14 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by sexyrobot at 9:14 PM on April 7, 2010
Yeah, I wish I still lived in LA, because I would have given you some from my back yard. I had so many damn limes and lemons, I had to shovel them up off the ground and toss them in the garbage.
Actually, Threeway, you have a legal right to just take leaves in certain circumstances. There's an obscure law that allows anyone in LA county to take any fruit or agricultural product if it overhangs a public right of way, like a sidewalk or street.
Well sorry Nattie, I know that's not much help. Do you ever get downtown on a Saturday or Sunday? Back when I lived downtown, they used to have direct sales on weekends at the wholesalers in the Produce District, right around Alameda and 4th. You could get anything you wanted, no matter how weird, and cheap too. I used to go shopping there every Sunday, but then, it was my local source, I lived like 3 blocks away. Of course that was a long time ago, back in the late 80s, I don't know if there even is a Produce District anymore.
posted by charlie don't surf at 9:23 PM on April 7, 2010
Actually, Threeway, you have a legal right to just take leaves in certain circumstances. There's an obscure law that allows anyone in LA county to take any fruit or agricultural product if it overhangs a public right of way, like a sidewalk or street.
Well sorry Nattie, I know that's not much help. Do you ever get downtown on a Saturday or Sunday? Back when I lived downtown, they used to have direct sales on weekends at the wholesalers in the Produce District, right around Alameda and 4th. You could get anything you wanted, no matter how weird, and cheap too. I used to go shopping there every Sunday, but then, it was my local source, I lived like 3 blocks away. Of course that was a long time ago, back in the late 80s, I don't know if there even is a Produce District anymore.
posted by charlie don't surf at 9:23 PM on April 7, 2010
oh yeah...liketitanic is probably right...because of the asian psthilid...seen those big yellow tags hanging in the orange trees?...they're bug traps...they actually sprayed my neighborhood last year. i think your recipe may be fucked :( ...maybe try lime zest as an alternative?
posted by sexyrobot at 9:25 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by sexyrobot at 9:25 PM on April 7, 2010
(the produce district is still there...but it's more like alameda and 6th...it looks like long warehouses with loading docks for trucks in an area thats all fenced off for blocks...)
posted by sexyrobot at 9:28 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by sexyrobot at 9:28 PM on April 7, 2010
Call around to small Asian stores. If they don't do much volume, maybe they have some frozen kaffir lime leaves that predate the quarantine, which apparently began Feb. 17.
(Or does such a quarantine require existing stock to be thrown out? Anyone know?)
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:31 PM on April 7, 2010
(Or does such a quarantine require existing stock to be thrown out? Anyone know?)
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:31 PM on April 7, 2010
A Grocery in Echo Park sells them, or at least sold them as of a few months ago when I still lived in Echo Park. You could always check a Fallen Fruit map for lime trees near you...
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 9:35 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 9:35 PM on April 7, 2010
I know where you can get sooooooo many in the southern "LA" (Louisiana).
posted by pantsonfire at 9:35 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by pantsonfire at 9:35 PM on April 7, 2010
Hmm, maybe those fallen fruit maps aren't so hot. I do sorta know where a small lime tree is on a street just north of Bellevue Park in Silver Lake. I picked a few limes off it a while ago when I was on a walk. Have you tried a farmer's market?
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 9:46 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 9:46 PM on April 7, 2010
Best answer: Zest from regular limes will do in a pinch but kaffir lime leaves have a distinctive floral/resinous flavor that regular limes don't provide. (It's really easy to overdo it, in my opinion, so julienne them super finely, or leave them whole so they're easy to fish out.)
Anyway, on to the actual answer: if this is a recurring need and you have a sunny balcony or backyard, maybe you should get a potted dwarf kaffir lime tree. Four Winds Growers here in the Bay Area sells dwarf citrus trees online and at many retailers in Southern California. Check their website for retailers in your area.
posted by Quietgal at 9:59 PM on April 7, 2010
Anyway, on to the actual answer: if this is a recurring need and you have a sunny balcony or backyard, maybe you should get a potted dwarf kaffir lime tree. Four Winds Growers here in the Bay Area sells dwarf citrus trees online and at many retailers in Southern California. Check their website for retailers in your area.
posted by Quietgal at 9:59 PM on April 7, 2010
I've substituted lemongrass for lime leaves in some recipes if that will help.
posted by kirstk at 10:03 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by kirstk at 10:03 PM on April 7, 2010
Try grocery stores in Thai Town (Hollywood blvd between Normandie and Western). Some specific suggestions near the bottom of this chowhound thread.
posted by acidic at 12:02 AM on April 8, 2010
posted by acidic at 12:02 AM on April 8, 2010
Best answer: I regularly buy Kaffir Lime leaves and limes at the Coleman Farms stand at the Wednesday farmers market in downtown Santa Monica. You could call them to find out if they come to markets closer to you (877)886-7409.
posted by conrad53 at 6:25 AM on April 8, 2010
posted by conrad53 at 6:25 AM on April 8, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for all the answers everyone! liketitanic is right: I'm looking for keffir lime leaves and I'm not sure that regular lime leaves will work the same, but you guys are SUPER SWEET for offering. :-) The quarantine sure does explain a lot, though! When we went to Whole Foods we asked a produce guy if they had lime leaves, and he said immediately and definitively that they didn't -- something about his answer made it sound like he'd had to answer it a lot of times before, and maybe the quarantine is why.
Thanks for the recommendations for substitutes as well. The recipe already calls for lemon grass so I'm not sure about adding more, but I might break down and try lime zest or try ordering the powder from liketitanic's link. If the farmer's market stand still has it, I might give that a shot too. Thanks again!
posted by Nattie at 12:31 PM on April 8, 2010
Thanks for the recommendations for substitutes as well. The recipe already calls for lemon grass so I'm not sure about adding more, but I might break down and try lime zest or try ordering the powder from liketitanic's link. If the farmer's market stand still has it, I might give that a shot too. Thanks again!
posted by Nattie at 12:31 PM on April 8, 2010
Response by poster: Also, I am LOVING the fallen fruit maps, even if it won't help with the lime leaves. That is so cool! Next time I'm near LACMA or Venice Beach I'm gonna check that stuff out. :D
posted by Nattie at 12:34 PM on April 8, 2010
posted by Nattie at 12:34 PM on April 8, 2010
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posted by Threeway Handshake at 8:57 PM on April 7, 2010