If you look back over the last 40 years of food in Taiwan, the era has definitely largely been a time of eating rice to complement main dishes, with "getting enough to eat" being the focus. How the food tastes with rice has naturally been extremely important. To accompany three bowls of rice, food requires a strong flavor and must be cooked with liberal amounts of oil.
回頭看台灣四十年前的飲食，必定是吃飯配菜，「吃飽」是重點，佐飯菜餚的口味自然要重、要油，才能一點菜配三碗飯。