Short Stuff: Fortune Cookies

In this episode of Short Stuff, Josh and Chuck dive into the surprising history and surprising origins of fortune cookies, debunking the common myth that they actually come from China. The hosts explore how fortune cookies are actually made (spoiler: the fortune goes in after baking while the cookie is still warm and pliable), uncover their likely Japanese origins from the 1870s, and then trace how they became an American staple through competing origin stories from San Francisco and Los Angeles in the early 1900s. They also discuss the unexpected twist that Chinese immigrants eventually took over the fortune cookie business after Japanese American bakers were interned during World War II, and reveal the amusing fact that when fortune cookies were finally introduced to China in the 1990s, they were completely rejected as too American.