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The secret history of the fortune cookies you’ve been eating all your life

Krdo · 🇨🇳 public China · · 1547 words · By CNN Newssource
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What to know about The secret history of the fortune cookies you’ve been eating all your life

The secret history of the fortune cookies you’ve been eating all your life By Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN Every Friday night of his childhood, Kurt Evans and his mother would order cartons of Chinese takeout, the cardboard boxes filled to the brim with classics…

Claims checked 19
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center86%
Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The secret history of the fortune cookies you’ve been eating all your life By Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN Every Friday night of his childhood, Kurt Evans and his mother would order cartons of Chinese takeout, the cardboard boxes filled to the brim with classics…

Why it matters

After each meal the Philadelphia native, now in his late 30s, would crack open a fortune cookie, reading the tiny paper with its words of wisdom on one side and a string of lucky numbers on the other.

Common ground

“You know, the lottery is very important in Black culture,” says Evans, recalling his earliest introduction to Chinese food.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://krdo.com/news/2026/04/09/the-secret-history-of-the-fortune-cookies-youve…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 19 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 9
help Insufficient Evidence 7
verified Verified By Reference 3
help
Claim 1: “Yasuko Nakamachi’s research links fortune cookies to Japanese New Year’s sweets called tsujiura gashi.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search, cross-references, or Wikipedia to confirm or refute Yasuko Nakamachi's research on fortune cookies and tsujiura gashi.
schedule
Claim 2: “The 'Stop Asian Hate' campaign series was launched by Oakland Fortune Factory in 2022.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 3: “An illustration from Japan’s Edo period (1603–1868) shows a vendor making folded senbei, similar to fortune cookies.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search, cross-references, or Wikipedia to confirm or refute the Edo period illustration of senbei.
help
Claim 4: “Black Dragon’s fortune cookies contain messages written by Kurt Evans and his Instagram followers.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search, cross-references, or Wikipedia to confirm or refute the claim about fortune cookies containing messages from Kurt Evans and his followers.
schedule
Claim 5: “Montreal’s Wing Noodles, Canada’s oldest fortune cookie factory, closed in 2025.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 6: “The Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco is credited with popularizing fortune cookies in the U.S.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search, cross-references, or Wikipedia to confirm or refute the Japanese Tea Garden's role in popularizing fortune cookies.
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Claim 7: “New York’s Wonton Food Company is the largest fortune cookie manufacturer.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 8: “The Oakland Fortune Factory, founded in 1957, is the oldest surviving cookie factory in the Bay Area.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 9: “Kurt Evans and his mother would order Chinese takeout every Friday night of his childhood.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries about Kurt Angle, Scary Movie, and Triskaidekaphobia are unrelated to the claim about Kurt Evans' childhood habits. No evidence supports or contradicts the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler and amateur wrestler. Currently, he is a sports analyst for Real American Freestyle. He first earned recognition …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Angle
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Scary Movie is a 2000 American parody film. It was directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon and Shawn Wayans (who both also star), alongside Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scary_Movie
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Triskaidekaphobia ( TRIS-kye-DEK-ə-FOH-bee-ə, TRIS-kə-; from Ancient Greek τρεισκαίδεκα (treiskaídeka) 'thirteen' and Ancient Greek φόβος (phóbos) 'fear') is fear or avoidance of the number 13. It…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triskaidekaphobia
schedule
Claim 10: “Alicia and Alex Issvoran took over the Oakland Fortune Factory in 2018.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 11: “Black Dragon’s tagline is 'Black American Chinese food.'”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia references for Black Dragon focus on criminal organizations and mythology, not restaurant taglines. No evidence supports or contradicts the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Black dragon may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Dragon
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Black Dragons (Chinese: 黑龍; Jyutping: Haak1 Lung4) was a Chinese-American criminal organization and street gang that was formed in 1980 by Chinese immigrants in Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, Calif…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Dragons_(gang)
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Chinese dragon or loong (/lʊŋ/ LUUNG) is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture generally. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms, such as turtles an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_dragon
help
Claim 12: “Benkyodo, a now-defunct sweets manufacturer, mass-produced fortune cookies in the U.S.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search, cross-references, or Wikipedia to confirm or refute Benkyodo's role in mass-producing fortune cookies.
help
Claim 13: “Fortune cookies did not originate from China or Chinese American restaurants.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search, cross-references, or Wikipedia to confirm or refute the origin of fortune cookies.
help
Claim 14: “Gary Ono’s grandfather built the first machine to make fortune cookies in the U.S.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in web search, cross-references, or Wikipedia to confirm or refute Gary Ono's grandfather inventing the first U.S. fortune cookie machine.
schedule
Claim 15: “The 'solidarity cookies' created in 2020 featured quotes from Black Lives Matter activists and civil rights leaders.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 16: “Jiamin Wong purchased the Oakland Fortune Factory in 2016.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 17: “The 'Rick and Morty' writers created messages for a limited-edition Oakland Fortune Factory cookie.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 18: “The Oakland Fortune Factory produces seasonal cookies with messages having strong cultural meanings.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 19: “Black Dragon is a Chinese takeout restaurant located on Rodman Street in Philadelphia’s Southwest.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia mentions Black Dragon as a gang and Chinese dragon mythology, but no evidence confirms it as a restaurant on Rodman Street in Philadelphia.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — 2026 in professional wrestling describes the current year's events in the world of professional wrestling.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_professional_wrestling
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Confe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Bulls
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Journalist and sports historian Dave Meltzer has assigned his ratings to professional wrestling matches since the creation of his publication, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in the 1980s, and named…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_professional_wrestling…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.