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Origin of the Fortune Cookie: It's NOT Chinese

One of the "must-stops" in SF Chinatown is the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in Ross Alley. Founded in 1962, the place is about to hit its 60th anniversary later in 2022. 

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory
courtesy author

Feel free to watch them make some in front of you, and get a taste of the unfolded ones, which are miles better than any of those wrapped (censored) you get from (censored). They are often still warm off the circulating multi-griddle. And yes, the fortunes are placed manually. You can also get fancier versions, like dipped, flavored, and so on, or even giant ones. 

But did you ever wonder where it came from? Turns out, it's not Chinese. It's actually Japanese. 

The origins of fortune cookie can be traced back to a Japanese "fortune" (tsujiura) that a temple would offer in a rice cracker (senbei) for a small donation. It is a bit larger than the modern version, darker, and made of sesame and miso. Let's just say, they are fist-sized. The note was simply placed inside the bend, rather than inside the hollow space.  

Japanese tsujiura senbei, fist-sized predecessor
courtesy of Japankuru.com

It is believed that the recipe came with the Japanese immigrants after the Chinese were excluded by the Chinese Exclusionary Act of 1882. One of the most accepted versions was that the recipe was brought to San Francisco as a treat served in the Japanese Tea Garden in the Golden Gate Park, by Makoto Hagiwara, the landscape designer of that place. The story goes that Mr. Hagiwara wanted to produce the Japanese senbei, and would fold them by hand with fortunes to be served to guests of the tea garden in 1914. But when he could not make enough, he entered into a contract with the Benkyodo Candy Factory to mass-produce the senbei. The story goes that Benkyodo's leader, Okamura, advised Hagiwara to change the flavor to have more sugar, vanilla, and butter, to be more acceptable to Westerners, thus the present-day formula for a fortune cookie is born. 

After that, many different Japanese bakeries made the fortune cookie until 1941/1942, when all the Japanese Americans were interned after the Pearl Harbor attack by executive order 9066. Even the Japanese Tea Garden switched to Chinese workers, and the fortune cookies continued. Many businesses left vacant would be bought up by the Chinese. Chinese food enjoyed popularity as they are now the allies and the fortune cookie spread to Chinatown restaurants. As more restaurants started including Westernized "fortunes" with every meal, a new tradition was born. 

Today, Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company is the only fortune cookie maker left in San Francisco Chinatown and a legacy business where you can witness how they get made every day. 

The fortune cookie is a thoroughly American tradition though. If you take a fortune cookie to China, it will be marketed as an "authentic American fortune cookie". 

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About the author

Kasey is a professional tour guide and amateur historian who specialized in Chinatown History and Tours. You will often find him guiding groups sampling delicious food and learning interesting historical tidbits about Chinatown most weekends.

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