FORTUNE COOKIE, JAPAN

19TH CENTURY

 

OTHER NAMES: fortune tea cakes

 

A fortune cookie is a crisp cookie usually made from flour, sugar, vanilla, and sesame seed oil with a "fortune" wrapped inside. A "fortune" is a piece of paper with words of wisdom or a vague prophecy. [1] Traditionally fortune cookies were shaped by hand using chopsticks; however the fortune cookie industry changed dramatically after the fortune cookie machine was invented in 1964 San Francisco by Lotus Fortune Cookie Company. [2]

 

In the US, fortune cookies are very common in Chinese restaurants; however the irony is that fortune cookie does not come from China. Its origin actually came from the 19th century Kyoto, Japan, where they had a very similar fortune cookie called "tsujiura senbei". It is made out of sesame and miso, and its fortune can be found tucked in the fold. [3]

 

In the early 20th century fortune cookie was introduced to America from Japan. Due to the American taste, it became sweeter with vanilla flavored.

 

Today fortune cookies are very common in Chinese restaurants more than any other cuisines. One theory for why this occurred is because of the Japanese American internment during World War II, forcibly put over 100,000 Japanese-Americans in internment camps. As a result, Chinese began to manufacture fortune cookie, which later became a dessert in Chinese restaurant. [4]

 

BASIC INGREDIENT:

flour, sugar, vanilla, and sesame seed oil, and “Fortune” Paper Slip

 

**There were actually so many legendary history of Fortune Cookie, visit Fancy Fortune Cookies if interested.