Fortune Cookies Are From China

Restaurants around the world serve fortune cookies, which are tasty hollow cookies with an encouraging word or "fortune" hidden within. However, they are particularly well-liked in the USA. Many people assume that they are Chinese in origin because they are frequently offered as dessert at the conclusion of meals or along with the bill in Chinese restaurants.

However, if you visited China, you would discover that fortune cookies have nothing to do with the country. In terms of history, Japan is where they originally originated. In reality, you can still buy a lot of other sweets in Japan that are very similar to fortune cookies.

When they were readily available at Japanese bakeries at the turn of the 20th century, they likely arrived in the US with Japanese immigrants. That persisted up until the Second World War, when Japanese-Americans were ordered to be detained and relocated as a result of the attacks on Pearl Harbor.

As a result, the Chinese had the opportunity to start a company that produced and sold them. They quickly gained popularity as a dessert item at Chinese-owned restaurants since they served as a refreshing, savory after-meal treat. Chinese manufacturers continue to dominate the fortune cookie industry a little more than 70 years later.