Fortune Cookies Originated from Japan
We always associate fortune cookies with Chinese restaurants and assumed they originated in China, but did you know that they are actually virtually unknown in China?
There are several speculations regarding the origins of the fortune cookie, the most widely held belief is that this is an invention of the Chinese settlers in America. However, a researcher now claims that they are actually originally form JAPAN.
As she researched the cookie’s Japanese origins, among the most persuasive pieces of evidence Nakamachi found was an illustration from a 19th-century book of stories, “Moshiogusa Kinsei Kidan.”
A character in one of the tales is an apprentice in a senbei store. In Japan, the cookies are called, variously, tsujiura senbei (”fortune crackers”), omikuji senbei (”written fortune crackers”), and suzu senbei (”bell crackers”).
The apprentice appears to be grilling wafers in black irons over coals, the same way they are made in Hogyokudo and other present-day bakeries. A sign above him reads “tsujiura senbei” and next to him are tubs filled with little round shapes — the tsujiura senbei themselves.
Read the full article and see how the Japanese fortune cookies found their way to San Francisco, to the rest of America, and to the rest of the world. Currently, fortune cookies are being mass produced in the US for export to Hong Kong and China. Isn’t that ironic?
Tags: Asia, asia-culture, asia-destination, asia-hotels, asia-travel, chiina, fortune-cookie, fortune-cookies, Hong Kong, hotels, Japan, travelRelated Stories
POSTED IN: China, Culture Shock: Asia
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