MANJU Wonton Soup
Outside of trips to Lucky Bamboo or the erstwhile International Market, Nashville has been a pretty barren spot when it comes to seeking out premium dumplings, except in the chicken broth at Cracker Barrel. That is, until lately, because we’ve been blessed with three new options for those seeking excellent examples of these steamed and sauteed morsels.
We’ve already told you about Locust, Trevor Moran’s new 12South dumpling and noodle emporium, but I’m happy to speak of it again. Since opening in October, the neighborhood has definitely taken to Moran’s current carryout-only model, but we’re all waiting until he can offer full service and leverage the talents of general manager and sake sommelier Kynsey Hunter who wowed us during her stints at Two Ten Jack and The Green Pheasant. Only better things lie ahead for Locust, and they’ve already been pretty damned fine so far!
Across town in East Nashville, another bit of a dumpling renaissance has been happening with a special offering at Peninsula, where Bites contributor Margaret Littman gave us all the heads up that one of the restaurant’s three co-owners, Yuriko Say, has been offering dumplings through her MANJU pop-up shop. You can order Say’s dumplings and gyoza to steam and sear or serve in a rich broth concocted by chef Jake Howell online at the Peninsula website.
Proper Sake
Third, Proper Sake entrepreneur Byron Stithem offers pickup of his products on Saturdays. In addition to his array of high-quality sakes that he produces in his tiny space in Pie Town, Stithem has begun to make a variety of dumplings in the commercial kitchen next door to sell in frozen batches to make a meal of your sake carryout. Available in four different varieties, these delectable morsels can be boiled, steamed or sauteed — or you can attempt the steam/sear process that handles everything in one pan. I recently sampled the pork and chive dumpling with black vinegar ten-pack, and for a buck apiece, these were a treat — but, warning, the black vinegar is pretty intense! Other flavors include hot chicken with chili oil, gulf shrimp with cultured sake butter and a vegetarian option of edamame and spring onion with lemon miso.
Perhaps the fastest growing part of the Proper Sake offerings is Stithem’s line of beers made using koji rice as part of the fermentation process, most notably his Koji Gold Japanese-style lager. Stithem explained to me the historical journey he went on while investigating Japanese beers, which most people associate with brands like Kirin, Asahi and Sapporo. Apparently, Japan invited German brewers to come into the country as one of the only outside industries during the late-19th century. The brewmeisters brought their helles style of beers to Japan, and now Proper Sake has brought it to Middle Tennessee. “The Germans made a crisp lager,” jokes Stithem, “We just made it ‘crispier’ with koji rice!”
Starting out as a small-batch project, Koji Gold has taken off to the point that Stithem has collaborated with Fat Bottom Brewing to scale up to wider distribution. Now you can find the delicious lager in retail outlets all over, including Publix, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and, starting next year, your local Kroger.
Even during a pandemic which has closed his tasting room to everything except Saturday carryout business, Stithem has managed to grow his business through sheer hustle, adding more sake, beer and food items while expanding distribution of his core products to restaurants in larger markets like Washington, D.C. Now he’s finally ready to announce a major expansion here at home. He has signed a lease on a new space in East Nashville at 3108 Ambrose Avenue near the intersection of Ellington Parkway and Trinity Lane. This will allow for a dedicated production space plus a greatly expanded restaurant and bar area. He’s due to collect the keys this week and hopes to make the big move sometime early next year.
Things are definitely looking up for us dumpling fans!
