A Beginners Guide to Cooking Mushrooms

I made this video a few years back and I misspoke on the first scentence of that video. Of course it went pretty viral (8.4 million views to date) so now I have to live with the fact that I said "mushrooms are not vegetables" (they are) when I meant to say "mushrooms are not plants" (they aren't).

What makes mushrooms so resistant to overcooking as opposed to most plants is that they're made out of chitin as opposed to cellulose. It's actually kind of similar to keratin (which is a protein in your hair). It's also found in the exoskeleton of bugs, crabs, and lobsters. It's pretty much digested in our bodies as fiber though.

Regardless of all this mushrooms are considered a vegetable, which is just a culinary term. And finally -- I can't believe I have to actually say this, but it is one of my most common comment on any mushroom video I make -- mushrooms are completely vegan on their own. Just because it's not a plant doesn't mean it's not vegetarian or vegan.

Music Is "Super Mario Bro's Theme" by ‪@imluvbyrd‬