Listen & Learn: The Origins of Fortune Cookies

Learn the story of the dessert served in American Chinese restaurants

• dessert: a sweet food that a person eats after a main meal
• immigrant: someone who moves to one country from another
• recipe: a list of ingredients that make a certain food
• internment camp: a prison that detains people because of their nationality or ethnicity
• out of business: closed, unable to provide services
• diner: someone who eats in a restaurant

Listening activity

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Gapfill exercise

Fortune cookies are a popular dessert served in Chinese across North America. But they actually don’t come from China at all. Fortune cookies were likely invented by early Japanese immigrants to the US. The fortune cookie recipe is similar to a type of Japanese called senbei. In the early 1900s, a man named Makoto Hagiwara worked as the caretaker of the Japanese Tea Garden in California. He had the idea to put “thank you” notes inside senbei crackers. During World War II, the US forced over 100,000 Japanese Americans into internment camps. This put many Japanese restaurants out of business. However, Chinese cuisine was still in American cities. American diners liked to have dessert with meals, so Chinese restaurants served fortune cookies to make happy. Today’s fortune cookies usually contain a small note with a piece of advice and a set of lucky numbers.

Comprehension questions

See answers below

1. Fortune cookies were likely invented by
   a. American immigrants to Japan
   b. Chinese immigrants to the US
   c. Japanese immigrants to the US
   
2. Makoto Hagiwara was
   a. a candy maker
   b. a tea garden caretaker
   c. a religious leader
   
3. During World War II, many American Japanese restaurants went out of business because
   a. it was becoming too expensive to keep the restaurants open
   b. Chinese restaurants were more popular with American diners
   c. the US government forced thousands of Japanese Americans into internment camps

Discussion/essay questions

1. A belief in fortunes and lucky numbers is an example of a superstition. Superstitions are beliefs that certain actions or events will bring good or bad luck. Most cultures have their own superstitions. Do you believe in any superstitions? Do you know anyone who is very superstitious?

Transcript

Fortune cookies are a popular dessert served in Chinese restaurants across North America. But they actually don’t come from China at all. Fortune cookies were likely invented by early Japanese immigrants to the US. The fortune cookie recipe is similar to a type of Japanese cracker called senbei. In the early 1900s, a man named Makoto Hagiwara worked as the caretaker of the Japanese Tea Garden in California. He had the idea to put “thank you” notes inside senbei crackers. During World War II, the US government forced over 100,000 Japanese Americans into internment camps. This put many Japanese restaurants out of business. However, Chinese cuisine was still popular in American cities. American diners liked to have dessert with meals, so Chinese restaurants served fortune cookies to make customers happy. Today’s fortune cookies usually contain a small note with a piece of advice and a set of lucky numbers.

Answers to comprehension questions

1c 2b 3c