

Traditionally, patrons of these restaurants break open the fortune cookie, remove the slip of paper, and read their “fortune”. Fortune cookies are crisp, sugary desserts served mainly in Chinese food restaurants in the United States.
#Fortune cookie maker full
Please see my full disclosure) Image by Author via Canva-How To Become a Fortune Cookie Writer What is a Fortune Cookie Writer?Ī fortune cookie writer creates the short, vague sentence (called an aphorism, ambiguous prophecy, or “fortune”) written on a sliver of paper trapped inside of fortune cookies. So I’ll leave you with this question, what is the best fortune you’ve ever gotten? And for those wondering, Gary says his grandfather resumed making fortune cookies after the war ended.Ĭedric Yeh is Deputy Chair and Associate Curator in the Division of Armed Forces History and Noriko Sanefuji is a research specialist in the Division of Work and Industry at the National Museum of American History.(This post may have afilliate links. So what do you think? Did you know that about fortune cookies? I didn’t even get to the fortune part of the cookie. Chinese businessmen used the opportunity and started to produce their own fortune cookies, selling them to Chinese restaurants, and setting in motion an association between cookie and restaurant that continues today. Photo credits: Gary Ono.īenkyodo continued to be the Japanese Tea Garden’s sole supplier of fortune cookies until the outbreak of World War II, when Japanese Americans in California were sent to internment camps. Gifts of Suyeichi & Owai Okamura family, Benkyodo Co., San Francisco. for Makoto Hagiwara.(Right) Senbei Iron with Japan Tea logo. (Left) Senbei iron with engraved initials, M.H. Gift of Suyeichi & Owai Okamura family, Benkyodo Co., San Francisco. Ono was kind enough to donate three katas to the Smithsonian. for Makoto Hagiwara) or had logos for the Tea Garden (Mount Fuji with “Japan Tea”).

Although some of the katas were plain, others had engraved initials (M.H. Ono showed Noriko a selection of antique sembei iron kata (hand skillet mold), which were used in the Japanese Tea Garden to make the fortune cookies one at a time. The store supplied fortune cookies (Japanese fortune cookies are a regional delicacy and much larger than the ones we know) to Makoto Hagiwara, who ran the Japanese Tea Garden at the Golden Gate Park. In 1906, Suyeichi started Benkyodo, a Japanese confectionery store in San Francisco.

Noriko Sanefuji (left) and Gary Ono (right). Lee, Noriko contacted Gary Ono, whose grandfather, Suyeichi Okamura, an immigrant from Japan, is one of the claimants to the original fortune cookie in the U.S. I know I was surprised and I grew up around fortune cookies, although I always preferred almond cookies.Įxcited about this revelation, research specialist Noriko Sanefuji went out to investigate. You might be surprised to discover that fortune cookies are not a Chinese creation but rather an American one by way of Japan. One topic that really caught our attention was the origin of the fortune cookie. Earlier this year we invited Jennifer 8 Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, to meet with our staff and share her insights into the mysteries of Chinese food.
