HYPER JAPAN 2012 Christmas

There are three styles of chocolate gifts for St. Valentine’s Day in Japan: ‘Giri-Choco’, ‘Tomo-Choco’ and ‘Honmei-Choco’.

Today we would like to introduce you to two of these popular styles of chocolate gift: ‘Giri-Choco’ and ‘Tomo-Choco’, both of which are normally given not to boyfriends but to friends or colleagues on St. Valentine’s Day.

Firstly, the name ‘Giri-Choco’ means ‘Obligation(Giri) Chocolate’, and specifically, these chocolates are given by women as an obligation to male acquaintances like office colleagues, particularly superior or senior colleagues, and other men with whom they are casually acquainted. Women usually buy ready-made chocolate at stores for ‘Giri-Choco’, which is the most important difference from ‘Honmei-Choco’, the name for chocolates given to someone who they love or fancy.  We will talk about ‘Honmei-Choco’ tomorrow, so please check it out also.

Tomo-Choco’ means ‘Friend’s (Tomo) Chocolate’, which is—as the name suggests--given to only female friends . Since many Japanese women make chocolate gifts for St. Valentine’s Day, it is common that they exchange handmade chocolates. ‘Tomo-Choco’ looks like a small gift: the basic style is that a few chocolates are packed in small paper bags or plastic bags and then they are tied with ribbons or cute stickers.

Here’s a typical example of ‘Tomo-Choco’ in Japan. You can also learn how to make it with the recipe below.

Chocolate Truffles

• 150g chocolate(you can use any kind of chocolate depending on your favourite)
• 90ml single cream
• 10g cocoa powder, for dusting
• 10g pistachios, crushed

Method

1. Make the ganache. Finely chop the chocolate. Pour the single cream into a glass bowl, then place the bowl in a pan with water, making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Once the cream has come to the boil, turn off the heat and add the finely chopped chocolate.
2. Stir gently with a plastic spatula, then remove the bowl from the pan. Continue to stir until the chocolate melts into the cream completely and becomes a little sticky. Leave the mixture to cool for around 20 minutes.
3. Cover a plate with cling film, shape the ganache into small balls of 3cm each, and place them on the plate.
4. Put the plate in the fridge and leave it for about 20 minutes until the chocolate balls become solid.
5. Take the plate out of the fridge and wrap up the pieces one by one with cling film quickly so that they remain chilled; the chocolates can melt easily at room temperature.
6. When you are ready to present your chocolate to your friends, unwrap each piece and roll in cocoa powder or chopped pistachio.

It’s very easy to make! Give it a try and delight your best friends with some Japanese-style chocolate gifts!

Win yourself some Valentine's Choccies with HYPER JAPAN & Tofu Cute

We've teamed up with super-kawaii online store Tofu Cute (you can also catch them at the event!) to run a week-long competition to win a packed of Valentine's chocolates every day! Today's delicious prize is the delicious set to the right. And it's so simple to win! All you need to do is Like the post linking to this article on our Facebook, or tweet this article, or write us a comment - and we'll pick someone at the end of each day. And if you  don't win today, you can try again tomorrow. Click here to check out Tofu Cute's extensive range of fun and fascinating Japanese sweets and snacks, along with Japanese kawaii-style accessories, stationery and gifts.
Monday 13rd February Prize Details:
Kawaii Oreo Mirror Keychain
Realistic looking rubber Oreo keychain, that opens up into a handy pocket mirror
Glico Picco Reverse Pocky Chocolate Sticks
Crunchy cocoa biscuit sticks with a creamy chocolate filling
Meiji Hello Panda Biscuits - Chocolate
Crispy biscuit shells with creamy a chocolate filling, printed with kawaii panda pictures

Text: Honami Matsuura
Images: Yuna Kimura