Hoisin sauce: why 256 g per cup is wrong
USDA SR Legacy "Sauce, hoisin, ready-to-serve" (NDB 6175) publishes 256 g (9 oz) per US cup of hoisin sauce. This site rejects that figure and publishes 312 g (11 oz) instead, from Kikkoman Hoisin Sauce label (density 1.3187 g/mL, matching the composition of the substance). The reason:
USDA's own record puts 7.1 g of water in its 16 g tablespoon, so hoisin is 44% water and 56% sugar, starch, soybean paste and salt. A sauce that is more than half dissolved and suspended solids weighs about what a heavy sugar syrup weighs, 1.25 to 1.30 g/mL, and the salt pushes it higher. 1.08 g/mL is the density of a solution of about 20% sugar, a light syrup. Kikkoman weighs 2 tablespoons at 39 g and Lee Kum Kee 1 tablespoon at 20 g, 1.32 to 1.35 g/mL.
The arithmetic
| Source | 1 cup | Density | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| USDA SR Legacy "Sauce, hoisin, ready-to-serve" (NDB 6175) | 256 g9 oz | 1.082 g/mL | Rejected on physics |
| Kikkoman Hoisin Sauce label | 312 g11 oz | 1.3187 g/mL | Published here |
The published figure and its sources
The full sourcing for hoisin sauce, including every accepted and rejected figure, the state or filling method behind each, and the physics or standards reasoning applied, is on the ingredient page.
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