Fortune cookies. Chinese fortune cookies

Eastern fortune telling or fortune cookies

Destiny Cookies are believed to be the only fortune cookie that brings good luck.

About the origin of the unique sponge dessert There is still some debate going on. This culinary project is claimed by two Asian powers - China and Japan.

According to the Chinese, the fateful cookies were invented by their compatriot Zhu Yuan Zhang, who in the 14th century baked mooncakes every year dedicated to the harvest festival - Zhongqiujie. But what, you ask, is the genius of this recipe? And what contribution did its author make? The answer is very simple - in those days, China was ruled by the Mongol dynasty, to overthrow which the forces of the entire people were needed. According to ancient tradition, the dates of mutinies had to be communicated in writing, which had long created problems on the road to freedom: how to communicate the date of the mutiny without attracting the general attention of the Mongols? On the eve of the next harvest festival, Zhu Yuan Zhang's head was visited by a brilliant idea, the essence of which was to hide notes with the date of the rebellion in mooncakes, distributing them throughout the country. As a result of the uprising, China began to be ruled by the 21st Chinese Ming Dynasty, whose first emperor was Zhu Yuan Zhang.

Since then culinary products with notes inside are considered Chinese know-how.

According to the "Japanese" version of the origin of the Fortune Cookie, fortune cookies, called "tsujiura senbei" in Japan, were served to visitors in temples long before the Chinese began baking them. According to the Japanese, the argument of limitation has more weight here.

No matter how contradictory the struggle of two nationalities for ownership of the “patent” for the recipe for fortune cookies may be, the opinion of independent “experts” says that the popular fortune cookies all over the world are called Chinese Fortune Cookies. The key word in this name is “Chinese”, which means “Chinese”. In addition, to consolidate their position in the culinary debate, the Chinese have come up with many names for their cookies, one of them is good luck cookies (xingyun bing).

However, we Slavs can also lay claim to culinary idea with predictions: regardless of Asian traditions, from time immemorial there has been a tradition of preparing dumplings with a surprise for Christmas, each of which has its own interpretation. But, oddly enough, our mother’s national laziness is preventing us from joining a long-standing dispute - we just don’t want to start this empty dispute...

What is the technology for making cookies?

Despite their Asian origin, the technology of making cookies has its roots in European cooking.

Used for recipe biscuit dough. To do this, beat 2 egg whites into a thick foam, gradually adding sugar (1/3 tbsp.). Beat the mixture until the so-called protein “peaks” are formed - when the whipped whites reach their maximum volume. Stirring continuously, carefully add the melted and cooled butter(4 tbsp.), premium flour (½ tbsp.), salt. In addition, you can add lemon juice, vanilla or almond essence (½ tsp). Mix all ingredients well.

Using a tablespoon, spread the dough onto a baking sheet, forming round thin “pancakes”.

To ensure that the cookies have perfectly smooth edges, use molds or, alternatively, you can bake a thin layer of sponge cake, from which you can cut out blanks using a round mold.

We bake the finished cookies at a temperature of 160 degrees.

Ready-made cookie dough must be quickly removed and laid out on a flat surface. Without allowing the workpiece to cool, we place a paper note with a prediction in its center and fold the workpiece in half. We bend the resulting semicircle in half in the form of a pyramid and get Fortune Cookies. Traditional drink to the Liver of Fate is green tea. Homemade recipe You can also watch the recipes for cookies on the culinary website VkusnoDoma.com

Rules for baking cookies

1. It is best to bake biscuit pieces in small batches so that they do not have time to cool down and lose flexibility.

2. For inscriptions on paper, it is better to use laser printing so that the ink does not float from the heat.

3. You can come up with the text of the predictions yourself, or you can use traditional eastern wisdom, popular expressions, aphorisms, etc. Advice and wishes from cartoon and fairy-tale characters such as Moidodyr, Aibolit, Znayka, Superman or Harry Potter are perfect for children.

For teenagers, you can use humorous texts and anecdotes that will appeal to a group of different ages.

The famous Chinese fortune cookies are small sweet crackers that were not invented in China. The history of the origin of this sweet is quite dark: some believe that the tradition of writing predictions on pieces of paper and then choosing one of them at random appeared in Japan (indeed, such a custom exists in the Land of the Rising Sun, where dozens of people gather in Buddhist monasteries every day to take out a piece of paper with "correct" fate).

However, others rightly note that predictions are predictions, but the custom of putting a “lucky ticket” not just somewhere, but in food, was not invented by the Japanese, but by the Chinese. Only the Chinese are not from China itself, but emigrants living in San Francisco. There are, of course, those who claim that the American Chinese picked up the idea of ​​destiny cookies from the Russians, who brought the tradition of making “lucky dumplings” with them to America.

NOT JUST SWEET Be that as it may, the fact remains: mass production of destiny cookies started in the USA. It was started by Chinese-American Franklin Lee, who founded his Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company on June 14, 1962. The small Golden Gate store, where the first fortune cookies began to be sold, is located at the intersection of Jackson and Washington Streets in San Francisco. Every day, customers could buy a whole basket of fortune cookies there for just $3. The store quickly became popular, and the tradition of treating guests to such cookies migrated to Chinese restaurants, whose owners quickly realized that the innovation was attracting additional customers.

Now destiny cookies can be found everywhere in the USA and Europe: they are served to guests in almost all Chinese restaurants, they are given to guests, they are used to open family dinners in Chinese style. But in China itself, for some reason, fortune cookies never caught on: in the Celestial Empire, they probably believe that it is best to predict fate by the stars, and not by food.

However, they say that many Chinese, unable to purchase ready-made destiny cookies in the store, secretly prepare them at home using the following recipe.

What is needed

• Whites of 2 eggs
• Sugar - ½ cup
• Salt - ¼ tsp.
• Flour - ½ cup
• Starch - 1.5 tsp.
• Water - 4 tsp.
• Olive oil - 3 tbsp.
• Vanillin - 3 tsp.
• Butter - for frying

How to cook

1) First you need to cut and sign pieces of paper with predictions. These should be very small pieces of paper, no more than 1.5 cm wide and about 5 cm long. When making predictions, remember that they should not be too simple and transparent, but wise and veiled.

For example, these:

Ideas are like children. The best ones are only if they are yours.

Good memories require more than just a good memory.

The heart will be full when the cup is empty.

Don't ask and don't answer. Truth is in silence.

2) Beat the whites with vanilla until thick foam. Add vegetable oil and beat well again.

3) In a separate container, mix starch, sugar, salt, flour and water. Carefully fold the egg whites into the mixture.

4) Preheat the oven to 180 C. Place baking paper on a baking sheet, grease it with butter and carefully use a large spoon to make 10-20 pieces on it. small pancakes. Bake the pancake in the oven for about 11 minutes. or until they are golden brown.

Various types of fortune telling are more popular than ever. People want to know what the coming year has in store for them, and if not just a glimpse into the future, then at least set themselves up for success in the new year. During this magical time, Chinese food will come in handy New Year's cookies with predictions. This is a great opportunity to wish, encourage and simply cheer up your family and friends.

The recipe for Chinese fortune cookies is very simple and does not require any special skills or large quantity rare ingredients. The beauty of these cookies lies in the message sealed inside.

How to iron a fortune cookie

Fortune cookies are one of the classic desserts for every self-respecting Chinese restaurant: small, crispy folded waffles containing a note inside with an aphorism or phrase that in most cases makes no sense. Given these premises, one can assume that fortune cookies came from China, where they are consumed to celebrate certain holidays or anniversaries. But actually it is not. In China, it is practically not used, and if individual restaurants prepare it, it is only to attract tourists.

In fact, this delicacy comes from Japan. In the 19th century in Kyoto, several bakeries in the Omikuji Temple area began producing “good luck crackers.” Compared to the fortune cookies we were used to, they were not only dark, but they weren't even sweets: their filling was based on sesame and miso. The fortune telling message was placed on the outside because Japanese bakers feared that someone might swallow it by mistake. Fortune crackers are still produced in some areas of Japan, especially near the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, where they are usually prepared on New Year's Eve. So how did Japanese crackers become a dessert in Chinese restaurants?

History of the origin of baking

In the early 20th century, some Japanese immigrants began producing a sweet version of fortune crackers in San Francisco, in the United States. They quickly became in demand, but the presidential order for the internment of the Japanese population of America in 1942 led to massive forced transfers of Japanese from the West Coast to the so-called war centers. California also fell into the resettlement zone.

The Chinese took the opportunity to start selling popular Japanese cookies in their stores, appropriating the recipe. At the same time, a legend appeared according to which in China in the 14th century, the future Emperor Zhu Yuan Zhang himself placed a message for his supporters in a moon cake and thus quietly warned the militia about the beginning of the revolution. As a result of this rebellion, Zhu Yuan became the first emperor. Most likely, this was just a way to add a romantic color to the history of cookies in order to increase sales. And he justified himself. With the advent of automation in the industry, cookies spread throughout the United States and beyond, gaining a popularity that they have maintained to this day.

Ingredients

How to make Chinese fortune cookies? First of all, you need to prepare everything necessary ingredients. For classic recipe Chinese fortune cookies you will need:

• Egg whites- 3 pcs.
• Powdered sugar- 125 g.
• Flour - 100 g.
• Butter - 60 g.

The sense of taste will help improve:

• Cinnamon - 1 tbsp. spoon
• Vanillin - 10 g.
• Lemon zest or juice - a few drops
• Almond essence - a few drops

Also, some Chinese fortune cookie recipes use starch diluted with water. This makes the treat crispier, but makes it more difficult to wrap the message because the dough becomes more brittle. If your hand is not full, you risk breaking a good half of the products.

Necessary equipment

To prepare the cookies themselves you need:

• Baking tray.
• Pan.
• Whisk.
• Parchment.
• Sieve.
• A bowl.
• Spatula.
• Spoon.
• Serving saucer.
• Love.
• Patience.

To prepare predictions, you also need to get a pen and paper.

Preparing predictions

Traditionally, Chinese cookies are prepared on the eve of the Chinese New Year - on the night of February 19th. It is believed that if you follow the parting words contained in the cookies, everything will turn out just fine in the new year. But this type dessert has become so popular that it is often used for other reasons. Cookies are prepared for all kinds of entertainment events: children's party, bachelorette party or birthday.

Depending on the occasion, you should choose the appropriate predictions. You can find ready-made prophecies on the Internet or come up with your own. These can be poems, riddles, sayings, jokes, wise sayings or magic numbers that will bring good luck. The text can be printed on a printer or written by hand. You can also use colored paper instead of regular paper so that the cookies bear. The paper must be cut into thin small strips and a prediction written on them.

Making Chinese fortune cookies: recipe with photos

• First melt the butter. It is best not to heat it completely, but only heat it slightly, then remove from the heat and leave in hot frying pan, allowing it to melt on its own.
• Next, take the flour and sift it through a sieve into a bowl.
• Add the whites and cooled butter to the sifted flour.
• Mix everything thoroughly and bring to homogeneous mass using a whisk or spatula.
• When the dough is ready, add cinnamon, vanilla, almond essence or a couple of drops for taste. lemon juice. You can experiment with different combinations spices.

How to bake Chinese fortune cookies correctly

You can bake products both in the oven and in the microwave. If you are a fan of the oven, then you should preheat it to 180°C. Chinese fortune cookies should be baked for about ten minutes. If you prefer to save time, use the microwave. The baking time will take less than a minute. In both cases, you should not cook more than two cookies at a time, as they will quickly cool and become brittle. As a result, it will simply be impossible to wrap a prediction in them. Place the dough on parchment or Silicone forms, forming with a spatula thin pancakes diameter 7-10 cm.

Shaping and serving

The hardest part of the Chinese fortune cookie recipe is sealing the messages. This must be done very quickly, since the cooled dough becomes unsuitable for maneuvering. After removing the cookies from the oven using a spatula, you need to place the message in the center, then fold the cookie in half and use a glass or the edge of a bowl to give it the shape of a moon. When doing this, you need to be careful not to get burned. It is best to use a pencil to fold in half. This will prevent you from breaking the shape and getting burned. Next, the cookies need to be allowed to cool until they become crispy. Ready dish can be decorated with chocolate or other confectionery decor. After this, it can be placed in small saucers and served to guests.

How to decorate baked goods

Depending on the occasion of cooking, you can give the cookies different shapes and colors. So, for example, if you want to propose to your loved one, cookies in the shape of a red heart with a ring inside are best. On New Year You can make the delicacy multi-colored, pour it with icing or chocolate and sprinkle with confectionery powder. For children's parties, it is worth decorating cookies with various animals: mice, bunnies, foxes.

On Valentine's Day, products can be shaped into hearts. Hearts in white are also suitable for a wedding. color scheme, sprinkled coconut flakes. Inside you can seal wishes and parting words to the newlyweds. The photo of Chinese fortune cookies shows some decorating ideas. finished products.

Prophecies and wishes

If you've ever eaten a Chinese fortune cookie and got something along the lines of "watch out for signs of fortune," then you know you haven't learned anything new. The Chinese love to put meaningless phrases or folk wisdom into messages that are already known to everyone. Russian people like more specific predictions like “a romantic surprise awaits you this weekend.” Also, all kinds of jokes and game elements, such as “your message in another cookie” or “eat me,” are perfect to lift the mood.

Here are a few phrases that are perfect for festive feast:

• Start every day with a smile. Then you'll be off to a good start.
• Anyone who wants to sing will always find a suitable song.
• A kiss to the one standing on the left, he had been waiting for this all year.
• Only dead fish flow downstream.
• Don't worry, be happy:)
• Have a snack!
• Don't borrow, take it for good.
• If you put a mirror in the refrigerator, there will be twice as much food.
• It’s better to tell the truth over the phone.
• Smile more often.
• Greetings from Mars. We are making contact. Please note, this is a secret message. Don't show it to anyone. Eat it.
• Ringing in the ear - expect good things. If your nose itches - expect good things. Nothing happens - expect good things.

Almost all Chinese restaurants in America serve fortune cookies after the main course. These sweets are over 100 years old.

Now the story of this unique dessert may take a sharp turn: the chief fortune writer at Wonton Food (self-described as the largest fortune cookie company in America), Donald Lau, retired in early February.

In connection with possible changes, the company told the story of this interesting product to TIME, inviting journalists to a factory in Brooklyn, New York, where 4.5 million pieces are produced per day.

The main Fortune Writer for the last 30 years has been Donald Lau, a former banker. But if earlier he composed 100 forecasts a year, then last year he created only a few dozen. "I'm having a writer's block," says Lau, who was chosen 30 years ago to write predictions for a factory in Brooklyn not because of his writing talent, but because he knew English better than anyone else in the company when it was founded, writes CNN.

After Lau left, his place was taken by James Wong, whom his predecessor had trained for six months. Wong is 43 and the nephew of the founder of Wonton Food.

How it all began

There are several versions of the origin of fortune cookies. Lau's favorite is the one that starts with the Ming Dynasty. In those days, people gave each other mooncakes with secret messages. Some researchers believe that “luck cookies” come from Japan - similar-shaped treats were once popular in the Kyoto area. This “Chinese dessert” came to the USA at the end of the 19th century, during the California Gold Rush.

American missionaries in China talked a lot about what was happening on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. The most adventurous Chinese flocked to the United States in the hope of getting rich in gold. In 1870, the Chinese made up nearly 10% of California's population and about 20% of the state's workforce. At first they worked on farms and helped build railroads. But in 1882, Congress banned Chinese manual labor and the granting of citizenship to Chinese immigrant workers. Because of this, many Chinese moved to work in the service sector: they opened laundries and restaurants.

At the same time, the Japanese also began to come to the United States - although not so many, so the law of 1882 did not affect them. Many Californian Japanese also worked in the service industry. At the beginning of the twentieth century, they realized that their native cuisine was too exotic for Americans, so they began to open Chinese restaurants, which at that time were already popular in California. The Japanese brought some of the traditions of their people to these establishments. It is not known for certain who invented fortune cookies, but we can say for sure that the American version of the product is the result of the fusion of Japanese and Chinese cultures in the vastness of the United States.

Everything changed after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. President Roosevelt ordered the creation of camps for Japanese Americans. Many Japanese-owned restaurants have closed. It was during this period that fortune cookies mysteriously suddenly stopped being considered Japanese and began to be considered a Chinese product.

During World War II, the demand for fortune cookies increased. Soldiers returning from California to other states took it as a souvenir. So this delicacy spread throughout America and became a symbol of the country’s Chinese community. It remains so today, with the Chinese considered the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States.

On taste and color

Fortune cookies are a uniquely American phenomenon. In the 1990s, Wonton Food tried to enter the Chinese market but failed. The Chinese, for whom the product was unfamiliar, constantly ate papers with the forecast. Americans, according to research, often leave cookies uneaten after reading a prediction (about 25% of consumers).

Experts believe that modern Chinese history is to blame. In the 1950s and 1960s, the communist government even regulated what the Chinese ate. As a result of the “reforms,” people often lacked regular rice, so when fortune cookies arrived in China a few decades later, many perceived them as an unnecessary and obscure luxury item. Even today, as China's economy develops rapidly, fortune cookies have not become popular here.

Sweet impression

The Japanese believe that the older the prediction, the more valuable it is. However, American copywriters must always come up with new, unique messages. Lau says that when he became chief fortune writer in the 1980s, he was given a stack of yellowed texts, most of which looked like horoscopes (“Tomorrow you will meet a new friend”). Today there are almost no forecasts in predictions - these are, as a rule, sayings that lift people's spirits. Lau says he has tried to weave political nuance into lyrics (for example, during the US presidential election), but they either did not pass the approval of the Wonton Foods employee committee, or, as events unfolded, quickly became irrelevant.

The company sometimes holds online prediction contests and regularly monitors consumer reactions. Various stories happen with predictions hidden in cookies. For example, in 2005, Wonton Foods became the target of a government investigation after several people won $19 million in the lottery using numbers from the circulation of predictions. One abandoned wife wrote a complaint that her husband came across a cookie that predicted an affair on a business trip. And one satisfied client shared the story of how he got a job after predicting that new opportunities awaited him.

Wong, who has a 10-year-old daughter, often writes lyrics from personal experience.

“I'm thinking about what I want to tell her. Recently I was reminded of an old Chinese saying: failure is the mother of success. I want my daughter to understand this: failures are normal if you learn from them. Then you can succeed. It’s quite possible that what I want to tell my daughter is important for other people,” he said.

And Lau believes that good messages make people happier customers. Sounds quite practical from a business perspective.

“When customers open their fortune cookies and read the text, I want them to smile and leave the restaurant happy. So they can come again next week,” he says.

Wonton Foods also makes custom fortune cookies that can be delivered to the customer's home. You can choose from 3 types: vanilla, chocolate and citrus, and in addition you can order the production of kosher sweets. One cookie costs 40 cents.

Fortune cookies are a fun treat for people in many countries. But they still continue to argue about where it came from and who invented it. The invention is attributed to the Chinese, Japanese, and Americans. We have selected for you several of the most popular versions of the appearance of fortune cookies.

So, first story. One day, David Yeung, a Chinese immigrant living in Los Angeles and founder of a noodle factory in Hong Kong, saw a hungry beggar. A beggar wandered near his store and evoked pity. This picture impressed Jung so much that he created unusual cookies and began handing them out for free on the street. Each cookie contained a Bible quotation or parting message written by Presbyterian ministers on a small strip of paper. According to this version, fortune cookies appeared in 1918.

Second story. According to this version, fortune cookies were invented by Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese immigrant who lived in San Francisco. Hagiwara worked as the designer of the Japanese Tea Garden located in Golden Gate Park. He was an excellent gardener and loved his work. But at the turn of the century, Hagiwara lost his position due to an anti-Japanese mayor. The new mayor who came to power restored it. In honor of his restoration to his former place of work, Hagiwara invited guests, whom he treated to cookies with thank-you notes inside. So he wanted to thank his friends who helped him in difficult times. According to this version, fortune cookies appeared in 1914. And in 1915 it was already exhibited at the Panama-Pacific Exposition and in San Francisco at the World's Fair.

Third story. According to this version, fortune cookies appeared as a result of the development of tourism in San Francisco Chinatown. The city was decorated in Chinese style and supported eastern traditions and experiences. But Europeans, accustomed to dessert, wanted to end their meal with something sweet. We had to satisfy the demands of tourists. The cookie was invented by a Chinese noodle factory worker. Inside each cookie was a piece of paper with Chinese wisdom on it. According to this version, fortune cookies appeared in 1930.

Fourth story. In the 13th and 14th centuries, China was conquered by the Mongols. The Mongols did not eat traditional moon cookies since nut butter(cookies in the shape of a month). The revolutionaries took advantage of this and began to hide notes with the date of the revolution in cookies. The instructions helped spark an uprising that ended in the liberation of the Chinese people. At the regularly celebrated Lunar Festival, a tradition arose of baking cookies with sayings inside.