I got distracted and didn’t really “finish” the previous entry about fortune cookies, so welcome to part 2 of the fortune cookie saga….
I mentioned earlier that the fortune cookie traces back more to Japan than China, and some of my extensive research found that as far back as the 1870s, some confectionary shops near Kyoto, Japan sold a cracker with the same folded shape and a fortune tucked into the bend, instead of its hollow inside. It was called “tsujiura senbei” or “fortune cracker.” The Japanese cracker was larger and darker, made with sesame and miso instead of the vanilla and butter used to flavor fortune cookies in todays Chinese restaurants, at least those in America. Supposedly these crackers/cookies were still being sold at a generations-old family bakery near the Shinto shrine just outside of Kyoto in the late 1990s.
Some believe the fortune cookie likely arrived in the United States along with Japanese immigrants who came to Hawaii and California between the 1880s and early 1900s. (Most immigrated during that period as as result of the Chinese Exclusion Act that removed many Chinese workers and left a demand for cheap labor.) Japanese bakers set up shop in places such as Los Angles and San Francisco and made miso and sesame-flavored “fortune cookie” crackers, among other items.
I mentioned in part 1 the “trial” held in San Francisco to determine the true origin of the fortune cookie. Some of the legendary histories presented at the trial are interesting….
One story goes that the Chinese immigrant, David Jung, who founded the Hong Kong Noodle Company while living in Los Angeles, invented the cookie in 1918. Concerned about the poor people he saw wandering near his shop, he created the cookie and passed them out free on the streets. Each cookie contained a strip of paper with an inspirational Bible scripture on it, written for Jung by a presbyterian minister.
Another story claims a Japanese immigrant, Makoto Hagiwara, invented the fortune cookie in San Francisco. Hagiwara was a designer of the famous Japanese Tea Garden in Golden State Park. He was an avid gardener until an anti-Japanese mayor fired him from his job. Later, a new mayor did reinstate him. In 1914, to show his deep appreciation to friend who had stood by him during his time of hardship, Hagiwara made a cookie and placed a thank you note inside. After passing them out to those who had helped him, he began serving them regularly at the Japanese Tea Garden. In 1915, they were displayed at the Panama-Pacific Exhibition, at San Francisco’s world fair.
Another argument says that in the early 1900s a plan was hatched to transform San Francisco’s Chinatown from a ghetto into a cute tourist attraction. San Francisco’s Chinatown promised tourists a real Oriental experience. The city promoted their Chinese decorations, pageantry and architecture. Supposedly, increased tourism led to the invention of the fortune cookie to fill the void of a dessert item. A worker in San Francisco’s Kay Heong Noodle Factory invented a plain flat cookie. The plain flat cookie, while still warm, was folded around a little piece of paper on which a hand-written prediction or piece of Chinese wisdom would be found.
One of my favorite origin stories….During the 13th and 14th centuries, China was occupied by Mongols. The story goes that the Mongols had no taste for Lotus Nut Paste. So, the Chinese people hid sayings inscribed with the date of their revolution inside the Moon Cakes where the Yolk would typically reside. Under the disguise of a Taoist priest, Chu Yuan Chang, a patriotic revolutionary entered occupied walled cities to hand out Moon Cakes to other revolutionaries. These instructions coordinated the uprising that successfully allowed the Chinese people to form the basis of the Ming Dynasty. The Moon Festival became a regular celebration and part of that tradition was the passing out of cakes with saying inside them.
One last argument to wind up this discussion is that the fortune cookie originated in Japan. A wood block image from 1878 shows what seems to be a Japanese street vendor selling fortune cookies. It is said that they can still be found in certain districts of Kyoto Japan, but are larger and darker than the fortune cookies we’re familiar with. They’re made with miso paste or sesame and have a savory flavor instead of the sweet, sugary fortune cookies available in the United States. The fortunes were never put inside the cookies — they were tucked into the fold of the fortune cookie on the outside. Many claim that this may be the earliest fortune cookie to appear in its now classic shape.
So it turns out that things like fortune cookies and takeout boxes aren’t related to Chinese culture, but if not invented here, were popularized in the United States. Wonton Food Inc., based in Queens, New York produces an estimated 4.5 million fortune cookies per day. In the early 1990s, Wonton tried to expand its business to China, but failed. Some Chinese were so unaware of the cookies and their purpose that they inadvertently ate the fortunes.
If all this doesn’t set the mood for Chinese New Year, I don’t know what will…..
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