Silky-smooth Nama Chocolate with fresh cream simply melts in your mouth. Rich, moist, and decadent, these sweets are a very popular gift item from Japan. With my copycat recipe of the famous ROYCE‘ chocolate, you can easily make this special treat at home.
If you are a frequent visitor to Japan, you probably have heard of or tasted this Japanese chocolate called Nama Chocolate (生チョコレート). You can’t really avoid it at the airport gift shops. They come in fancy packaging that makes them a popular gift item to bring home from Japan.
Nama Chocolate is rich, smooth, and moist, with a silky texture that literally melts in your mouth. The good news is you don’t have to fly to Japan to enjoy the luxurious sweet. With this recipe, you can make your chocolate dream come true today!
Table of Contents
What is Nama Chocolate?
Nama Chocolate is a form of ganache, similar to the filling inside French truffles. It’s made of fresh cream and chocolate, cut into little cubes, and dusted with fine cocoa powder.
We can only call it “Nama Chocolate” when it contains at least 40% chocolate and 10% cream by weight, and no more than 10% water.
Nama Chocolate is much easier to prepare than truffles because the chocolate is poured into a square pan, chilled until firm, then cut into mini squares. No messy hands since there’s no rolling required.
What Does Nama in “Nama Chocolate” Mean?
Nama (生, pronounce [na-ma]) means raw or fresh in Japanese. The name “Nama” Chocolate refers to the plentiful use of rich, fresh cream in the chocolate.
Because of the fresh cream, we must refrigerate Nama Chocolate at all times and enjoy them within 4 days of making them. You can also keep in the freezer for up to a month.
If you’re planning to give Nama Chocolate as a gift, make sure to let the gift receiver know to consume soon.
History of Nama Chocolate
In 1988, the owner and chef Masakazu Kobayashi at the sweet shop Sils Maria created a new type of chocolate, and he named this chocolate Nama Chocolate and Nama Choco (生チョコ) for short.
In 1993, Meiji, a snack company, released a chocolate product called Meltykiss (メルティーキッス) which was produced and supervised by chef Kobayashi. You can purchase a box of Meltykiss at Asian supermarkets, convenience stores, and train kiosks in Japan. This chocolate is known for its limited-time offering during the winter months as the chocolate melts quickly during the rest of the seasons.
Since then, major confectionery manufacturers started to sell Nama Chocolate, and it became a huge trend all over the country.
In 1996, Hokkaido-based ROYCE’ (ロイズ) released ROYCE’ Nama Chocolate. Many of you probably spotted this chocolate at the airports or gift shops at sightseeing spots in Japan. Due to their popularity, this Nama Chocolate is known to visitors who have been to Japan.
Although “Nama Chocolate” was invented in Japan in the late ’80s, this specific type of chocolate called “Pave de Geneva” was born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1930s. Pave de Geneva is made of chocolate and fresh cream and cut into small cubes smeared with cocoa, just like Nama Chocolate.
I’m not sure whether the Japanese chef had traveled to Geneva and knew of Pave de Geneva, or he figured out the Nama Chocolate formula on his own. Regardless, this is not an original Japanese product as it existed in Switzerland.
If you’re a Genevan who tried both Pave de Geneva and Nama Chocolate, please share your thoughts in the comment below. Are they similar or exactly the same?
Tips for Making Nama Chocolate
1. Use Good Chocolate
High-quality chocolate is mandatory since that’s the most important ingredient for making delicious Nama Chocolate. Make sure the chocolate is made of 100% cocoa butter and does not include vegetable fat in the ingredient list.
2. Use Heavy Cream
American heavy cream or heavy whipping cream (they are the same thing) has a 36-38% fat content. The ratio of heavy (whipping) cream (gram/ml) and chocolate (gram) should be 1:2. For this recipe, please do not replace chocolate with white chocolate (which I used in Green Tea Chocolate).
3. Dry and Clean Utensils
Make sure the bowls and utensils you are using are perfectly dry. Even a small amount of water/steam can “seize” the chocolate melting process. It can happen all of the sudden from a smooth bowl of liquid chocolate to a lumpy, grainy mass of chocolate.
Green Tea Matcha Nama Chocolate
Here’s a Green Tea Matcha version!
Other Delicious Chocolate Recipes
These chocolate goodies are perfect for special occasions or as a hostess gift during the holiday season. I hope you enjoy making this Nama Chocolate recipe!
- Frozen Chocolate Banana
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Chocolate Almond Toffee
- Chocolate Chiffon Cake
- Matcha Gateau au Chocolat
- Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nutella
- Valentine’s Day Chocolate Recipes
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Nama Chocolate
Video
Ingredients
- 14 oz good-quality dark chocolate (70% cacao) (use semisweet chocolate if you prefer a less bitter taste)
- 200 ml heavy (whipping) cream (¾ cup + 4 tsp; 36% milkfat)
- 1 Tbsp liqueur of your choice (optional, to taste; I use brandy)
- Dutch-process cocoa powder (to coat the chocolate; you can buy it on Amazon)
Instructions
Before You Start…
- Please note that this recipe requires a chilling time of 4 hours. Also, read the Notes section at the end of this recipe card for important tips to successfully make this Nama Chocolate.
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Prepare the Nama Chocolate
- With a sharp knife, chop 14 oz good-quality dark chocolate (70% cacao) into smaller pieces so that they will melt faster and more evenly.
- Line an 8- x 8-inch (20- x 20-cm) baking dish with parchment paper. Tip: To make the chocolate the correct height, it‘s important to choose a dish or tray that‘s the right size; if you use a bigger tray, the chocolate will be flatter.
- Add 200 ml heavy (whipping) cream (¾ cup + 4 tsp) into a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat the cream to ALMOST a boil. Whisk lightly to evenly distribute the heat. Keep an eye on the cream to make sure it doesn‘t boil. Tip: Overheating the cream may cause the chocolate to separate in the next step (see Notes below for more information).
- When you see small bubbles form around the edges of the saucepan, remove it from the heat.
- Next, add the chocolate pieces into the cream and stir with a silicone spatula to combine. Tip: Make sure your utensil is completely dry; introducing even a tiny amount of water or steam may cause the melted chocolate to seize (see Notes below for more details).
- Mix until the chocolate is melted and there are no more lumps. The chocolate and cream mixture should be completely smooth.
- If you‘d like, add 1 Tbsp liqueur of your choice (optional), and stir to incorporate.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and smooth the surface with the silicone spatula.
- Tap the baking dish onto the counter a few times to make sure the chocolate is evenly distributed. Refrigerate until firm, about 4–5 hours.
To Cut the Chocolate
- After chilling for 4–5 hours, remove the chocolate with its parchment paper from the baking dish. Peel away the parchment paper from the sides.
- With a sharp knife, cut off the stray pieces of excess chocolate around the four sides to make sharp corners and edges.
- Warm up the knife with a hot towel. Then, cut the chocolate slab into 1-inch (2.5-cm) strips. Make sure to clean and warm the knife before each cut to achieve a nice sharp cut.
- If your baking dish has curved edges and corners like mine, the edge strips may not be the ideal shape for cutting into neat chocolate cubes. If that‘s the case, cut off and save these chocolate pieces for yourself to enjoy.
- Next, cut the strips into cubes. Remember to clean and warm up the knife before each cut.
- Using a sugar duster or fine-mesh sieve, sprinkle the cubes on top with Dutch-process cocoa powder. Optionally, if you prefer the powder to completely cover the chocolate, you can dip each piece in the cocoa powder to coat all sides.
To Serve
- Keep the Nama Chocolate refrigerated. Serve it on a plate, or put it in a box as a gift. I recommend letting the chilled and firm chocolate sit at room temperature for 5–10 minutes before serving so it‘s soft enough to melt in your mouth.
To Store
- Keep in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to a month.
Notes
- Separation (when oil comes out of the chocolate) happens when you get the chocolate too hot. Never heat dark chocolate above 120ºF (49ºC) and never heat milk chocolate and white chocolate above 110ºF (43ºC). When chocolate gets too hot, the cocoa butter separates from the solids, and there is no way to salvage it (although you can bake with it and it tastes fine). The best way to prevent separation is to stir the mixture frequently. Since we’re not using a double boiler in this recipe, make sure you do not bring the mixture to a full boil. Remove from the heat as soon as you see bubbles around the edges of the saucepan.
- Seizing happens when moisture is introduced to melted chocolate, even a tiny amount of liquid or steam. When this happens, a smooth bowl of liquid chocolate can suddenly become a lumpy, grainy mass. To prevent this, make sure the bowls and utensils that you are using are perfectly dry.
- To learn more details and how to fix overheated or seized chocolate, please read here.
- The ratio of heavy whipping cream and chocolate should be 1:2. Please do not replace the chocolate with white chocolate for this recipe. The ratio is not the same.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on February 6, 2012. The content has been updated.
PLEASE tell me how to do it with white chocolate!!!
Hi Nico! Try making this without green tea powder. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/green-tea-chocolate/
Hello! When you heat the cream, what heat is it on? Medium or high? Also what does it mean by almost boiling? Is it when small bubbles form on the edges of the saucepan?
thank you so much and hope u can reply asap for valentines day tomorrow!!!
Hi Jenny! I updated the recipe with a little more info. Heat over medium heat. When you will see bubbles form around the edges of the saucepan, that’s when you turn off the heat.
Thank you for bringing it to my attention. 🙂
Hi Nami-san.
I’m a follower of your blog as i loved to try out Japanese cuisines. This nama chocolate looks tempting, and i wanted to try it out. I’m just an amateur and didn’t know much about ingredients. I’m from Malaysia. It would probably be hard for me to find fresh cream/heavy whipping cream specially in the area i’m currently living. May i know if i could substitute it with something else? Plus, i’m not sure how to differentiate between Heavy Cream and the normal whipping cream. Here, they didn’t really specify the fat percentage. So, all of them looks the same to me.
May i ask your opinion then? Which one would fit better to your recipe?
http://www.fonterrafoodservices.net/en/sg/products/23/uhtcream/Pack
or
http://www.summitstore.net/goods/html/?3277.html
I hope i could try it out! Thanks yea.
Hi Sha! Thank you so much for following my blog! 🙂 Check this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream
According to this, the American “heavy whipping cream” or “heavy cream” is for cream that contains 36% or more milk fat.
After looking at your links, I think http://www.fonterrafoodservices.net/en/sg/products/23/uhtcream/Pack is better choice. Don’t use Thickened Cream (read in “Australia” area – it says gelatine and other thickeners are added).
Hope this helps. 🙂
Hi Nami! Valentine’s is coming up and I wanted to make Japanese chocolates for me and my friends and came across this recipe 😀 I bought some dark chocolate with 52% cacao, is it sufficient for the nama chocolates or do I need a bar with higher cocao content? I’ve read in other blogs that if the chocolate is not good quality it melts easily, and I’m afraid this happens when I carry them to my friends T_T
Hi WKN! I think that should be okay. I’m not sure if quality and melting fast is related (I’m not familiar with that, but I’m not expert in chocolate field. :)), but if you live in a warm place, you need to make sure to chill the chocolate ALL THE TIME. The chocolate is very soft, melt in your mouth, which means it’s easy to melt. Make sure to pack enough ice and deliver in that case. 🙂
Thanks for the reply, Nami! I suppose the English weather will be suitable for the chocolates. though. Well, hopefully. ^_^
Then you have nothing to worry. 🙂 Enjoy!
The first time I had a sample of these in Japan, I was hooked! I am happy to try and make my own now…just in time for Christmas!
Hope you enjoy it Susan! 🙂
I am making these today with Kahlua! I’m so excited!
I hope it turned out well. 😀
I love this chocolate, and I tried your recipe last weekend and got nice compliments from my friends. However I wonder have you ever tried to make matcha green tea nama chocolate? I love matcha, and if you can share your recipe to make that, it’s great! Thanks!
Hi Amy! I’m glad you and your friends enjoyed Nama Chocolate! 🙂 Yes, you can add green tea powder to it. You need to use white chocolate and matcha powder. I haven’t tested the recipe, so it’s hard to say the exact measurement for each ingredients. I’ll add this to my list of requested recipes. Thank you!
Hi Nami, I love how your recipes are fuss free and easy to follow. One quick question, how do you coat all sides on each piece of the cut nama chocolate without making a mess? I don’t want my mother screaming at me for the mess I’m making in her kitchen. Thanks!
Hi Nic! Thank you! I’m so glad to hear you enjoy my recipes! Haha, I totally understand. After you cut nama chocolate into cubes, you can pick up each chocolate and dust cocoa all over it (using fine mesh sieve, I use one I use that’s for tea here – it’s small so mess area is only the area above chocolate.). If you want to do it nicely, you just need to focus a bit more and take time… for this picture, I made sure I don’t leave my finger print. 😉 Hope that helps, and hope you enjoy it!
hi Nami! I’ve just made a batch of this recipe and can’t wait to dig in!!! how long does yours usually take to firm up in the fridge?
Hi Yen! Of course it depends on temperature, but it didn’t take too long, maybe a couple of hours at most. Hope you will enjoy it! 🙂
thanks so much! it was perfect after two hours, and i might try using a pizza cutter next time to avoid shards, think that might work? my son loved royce chocolates when we visited singapore so this is a very nice treat for him (if i don’t gobble it all down myself first)!
Hi Yen! Hope your son enjoy(ed) the chococlate. 🙂 This nama chocolate is very dangerous to keep it around for me too. About the pizza cutter – hmm good knife always works for me, but never thought of using a pizza cutter. I can use more strength when I use a knife, so as long as it’s sharp, I like using a knife. Don’t forget to warm up the knife when you cut too (but please wipe the water if you use hot water). Enjoy! 🙂
Hi, Nami,
My whole family are chocolate crazy, I would to make myself. May I know using van houten coco powder ? Or have to use coco in bar?
Thanks for your recipe!
Regards,
Lf
Hi Lf! You will need to melt a chocolate bar AND later you sprinkle cocoa powder to finish. You can use any brand of chocolate and cocoa powder, but I recommend a very good kind. van Houten cocoa sounds perfect. Hope I answered your questions…
I have a question.. Is this the same as Meiji’s MeltyKiss chocolates?
Hi Stephanie! I love those MeltyKiss! But this is a copycat of Royce’ nama chocolate. 🙂
http://www.e-royce.com/english/product/index.html
made this yesterday, it was really delicious!!! Thanks for the recipe! But it was SUPER HARD to cut it :'( it’s all sticky and starts to melt few minutes after I took it from the freezer… maybe due to hot weather? SO, my bro said that it tastes good but looks =_=|||
Hi Rein! Thank you for trying this recipe. I heard from some readers in SE Asia that nama chocolate starts to melt when they put it outside. I can probably suggest to cut inside the A/C or cut at night when it’s cooler? Another suggestion is to make small batches so you cut less? Sorry I can’t be much of help…. 🙂
excellent recipe..easy and yumm..my nama chocolates are getting ready in the fridge:)
i made this by adding milkmaid ,coco powder chocolate,
Thank you for trying this recipe! I hope you liked it. 🙂
I bought a few boxes of royce chocolates from japan. Can i freeze them?
Hi Grace! From what I found on Internet (I have never made enough that I need to store in freezer), you can freeze in the freezer up to 2-3 months. However, alcohol in the chocolate (if any) will be evaporated by then and the quality will not be as good as when it’s fresh. It’s also highly recommended to pack in air-tight container so your chocolate won’t absorb other food smell in the freezer. Hope this helps!
Do you think I could use this recipe for a 7″ by 7″ square pan??
Thanks. btw, your blog looks great 🙂
Hi Raymund! Sure you can use 7″ x 7″ but the height of chocolate will be a little taller than mine. Thank you so much for your kind compliment. 🙂
Gratitude chocolates for my family! Just made them, and now I’m waiting for them to become stiff. I tried the “batter”, A-MAZ-ING! It is soooo good! I just really want to try the chocolate after it is completely done! I wanted to put a cherry or an almond in them before they became stiff, but I forgot to get some at the store…but I know they are going to be good either way! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, I have been looking for this! A-MAZ-ING!
Hi Shelby! Thank you SO much for your feedback, and I’m really happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this chocolate! Thank you for your time to drop by and write feedback. 🙂