One level tablespoon (15 ml) of Soy sauce weighs about 16 g. A teaspoon is around 5 g, a 200 ml cup around 220 g, and an everyday Korean rice spoon holds roughly 11.7 g level.
Soy sauce is denser than water, so a tablespoon is about 16 g. Salt levels vary sharply by type: Korean soup soy sauce used one-for-one in place of regular soy sauce will oversalt a dish. Use the type the recipe names, or start with less.
Fill the spoon to just short of spilling.
Conversion table
| Unit | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1 tbsp (15 ml) | 16 g |
| 1 tsp (5 ml) | 5 g |
| 1 cup (200 ml) | 220 g |
| 1 paper cup (180 ml) | 198 g |
| 1 Korean rice spoon | 11.7 g |
Measuring with a rice spoon or paper cup
A recipe tablespoon is 15 ml and a Korean recipe cup is 200 ml, but the spoon in your cutlery drawer holds about 11 ml level and a paper cup holds 180 ml. Measuring with everyday utensils therefore puts in roughly a quarter less than the recipe intends.
Heaping the spoon brings it close to a proper tablespoon. For salt, baking powder and anything else where a small error changes the outcome, use measuring spoons or a scale instead.