Nama translates as “raw” or “fresh” in Japanese, and there isn’t a better word to describe the simple yet sophisticated taste of nama chocolate. Not quite a truffle, not quite a fudge, the soft chocolate square literally melts in your mouth as you bite into it, a perfect moment of indulgence for your day.
Sold by the chocolate chain Royce, nama chocolate, or nama choco, is a very popular chocolate to give as gifts or enjoy for yourself. If you’re living overseas, though, you might be missing that smooth, silky texture. Luckily, what’s best about nama chocolate is that it’s quite simple to make, so you can enjoy nama chocolate without being in Japan!
Note that I say simple, not easy, because there are always a couple of things you need to watch out for. Working with chocolate, you must take care not to get it to hot, or to get even a drop of water on it, or it will crystallize and turn chunky. (and chunky chocolate is far from the smooth taste we’re after!) And you want to make sure to get the right ratio of cream to chocolate, otherwise it may separate and you have a greyish coat of milk fat top of the chocolate. Not that you can’t cover it with the cocoa powder, but still, aim for perfection!
While nama chocolate is delicious with just chocolate and cream, I wanted to bring a more complex taste to the squares by infusing them with tea. It’s also popular to flavor them with liqueur, so if you want to add a tablespoon or so of rum, go right ahead! Feel free to experiment with your favorite teas to find the flavor you like best, or completely leave it out; this time I used a mango black tea, but I’m thinking a floral tea would be amazing as well. Maybe lavender or rose??
Nama chocolate is my go to dessert to serve to impress, so if you’re looking for a special dish to dazzle someone’s tastebuds, give this recipe a try! You’ll be surprised at how simple this chocolate is to make, and they’ll be amazed at the perfectly smooth texture! Just be sure to keep it refrigerated, since it has a high cream content!
Recipe – Tea Infused Nama Chocolate:
(While the recipe calls for 4 servings, I ended up making this for a party, so I tripled the recipe. Good thing is, it’s really easy to make a larger batch! )
– To create the tea flavor, add the cream to a small pot and bring the cream to just simmering. (when you start to see a few bubbles rising) Do not let the cream boil! Once the cream is hot, turn off the burner, add the tea bags and let steep for 10 minutes. (If you want to make plain nama chocolate, skip this step)
– While the tea is steeping, break the chocolate into small pieces to allow for even melting using a sharp knife.
– Prepare your mold by lining a small pan with aluminum foil. For a small batch, a small tupperware will work fine. For a large batch, I used an 8×8 baking pan.
– In a medium pan, add the chocolate and turn the burner on to medium high. Stir the chocolate until just melted, then turn the burner off. Again, we don’t want to get it too hot, so once it melts, remove from heat!
– Once the tea has steeped, use a spoon to remove the bags from the cream. To make sure to maximize the tea flavor, I used the spoon to squeeze them against the side of the pot and remove as much cream from the bag as possible. Pour the cream and honey into the melted chocolate, and stir until completely blended.
– Once the chocolate and cream have been mixed, pour it into your prepared pan.
– Put the pan in the freezer and let chill until completely set. For me, it took about 3 hours. Once chilled, flip the pan over on a counter and remove the foil. Using a clean knife, cut the chocolate into 1 inch squares. It’s a little tricky to get perfectly clean lines, but I find it helpful to have a wet rag and a bowl of water to clean the knife between each cut. It really makes a difference!!
– Once all the squares have been cut, give them a light dusting with cocoa powder and they’re ready to go!
– Serve chilled, and it’s best to enjoy within 3 days!
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