What characteristics make Chinese cuisine distinct,and what characteristics make Japanese cuisine distinct?

Answer 1

There are a lot of different factors. A lot of it has to do with what crops and meats are native to the country, but the flavor profiles are different as well. If someone handed you a piece of chicken, and said make this chicken taste Chinese, you would get some Hoisin souce and some water chestnuts and some soy sauce and stir fry it, because those are the traditional ingredients and the traditional cooking method. If someone brought you the same piece of chicken and told you to make it taste Japanese, you would probably get some Dashi (seaweed stock or broth), some fish sauce, and some miso and make a nice light soup, even though in true japanese cuisine it would probably be a seafood dish instead of chicken.

The countries have very different historys and very different palattes. If you pick up a book on each, you will notice many differences in ingredients and cooking techniques. Don't foret that the Chinese and Japanese food available in America is oftentimes a conglomeration of many different Asian cooking styles, including Vietnamese and Thai.

Answer 2

Japanese food is always artfully presented; Chinese is often stir-fried so is just a serving in a bowl or on a plate.

Chinese almost always has sesame oil as an ingredient; Japanese rarely does.