Learn to Make Go, a Soybean Puree used to Prepare Tofu

By William Shurtleff And Akiko Aoyagi
Published on July 1, 1976
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Figure 1
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Figure 2
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Scrambled eggs are just one of the tasty dishes you can make with gô.
Scrambled eggs are just one of the tasty dishes you can make with gô.
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Figure 3
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Figure 5
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Figure 4

Excerpt from “The Book of Tofu”, copyright ®1975 by William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi. Excerpts used by permission of Autumn Press, Inc.
Click on the Image Gallery to see referenced figures.

Gô is a thick white purée of well-soaked uncooked soybeans. It is more full bodied in texture than whipped cream, but not as thick as cream cheese. It is interesting to note that the Japanese character for g6 is also used to represent the verb kureru meaning “to give”. This is appropriate, since gô is the source of each of the various tofu products, and it is the first transformation of whole soybeans in the alchemy of tofu-making. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Tofu is a protein-packed food made from soybean curds . . . learn how to make it here..)

Gô is the only stage in the tofu-making process where the entire soybean is still together. In the next step, the gô will be separated into okara (soybean pulp) and soymilk. Thus by using gô in cooking, we can enjoy the full range of the soybean’s nutrients in their natural balance and completeness.

By soaking and grinding the soybean into gô, we greatly reduce the amoôunt of time and fuel required for its thorough cooking, just as it is quicker and more economical to cook rolled rather than whole-grain oats.

Moreover, gô need be simmered for only 15 minutes or pressure-cooked for 10 if it is to be used directly as a food (or be further processed into soymilk). It requires as few as 10 to 15 minutes of simmering if it is to be made into tofu, since trypsin inhibitor is contained in the soluble carbohydrates that dissolve in the whey during the curding process.

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