The Curious Origin of Fortune Cookies
How the Japanese treats become a staple in Chinese restaurants
Fortune cookies have become a customary finale to any meal at a Chinese restaurant and synonymous with our collective idea of Chinese culinary customs. However, their origins are certainly more complex and far less closely related to China than many are aware of.
According to Jennifer Lee in The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese around the 1870s it was quite common for confectionary shops in the surrounding areas of Kyoto, Japan to sell a treat called a “tsujiura senbei,” or “fortune cracker”. Though visually almost identical to the modern day fortune cookie the ingredients consisted of miso and sesame as opposed to sugar and butter thus making it a savory snack rather than a sweet.
However, how did this lead to the fortune cookie becoming popularized in Chinese restaurants in America and worldwide?
Several restaurants have laid claim to have first used butter and sugar to create savory versions of fortune cookies and most were businesses run by Japanese immigrants, but it is still unclear why the composition of the fortune cookie changed so profoundly.
At the turn of the 20th Century, as Japanese restaurants were becoming popular in America…
