Several parts combine into one character.

The traditional 燒 is a phonetic-semantic compound: 火 (fire) + 堯 (yáo, name of an ancient legendary emperor — providing the sound). The composite means "to set on fire / cook over fire / grill / burn." Japan simplified the right side to produce 焼; Mainland China simplified to 烧. Three CJK regions, three slightly different scripts, but all naming the same fundamental act of using fire on food or material.

Korean reading "so." 燒酒 (soju, "fire-distilled liquor" = soju, Korea's national distilled spirit; the name comes from the production method of distillation by fire), 燃燒 (yeonso, combustion — chemistry term), 燒却 (sogak, incineration — used in "garbage incineration plant"), 燒失 (sosil, loss by fire), 燒身 (sosin, self-immolation). The word 소주 is one of Korea's globally recognized cultural exports.

Mandarin shāo, 1st tone (simplified 烧). 烧 (shāo, to burn / cook), 烧烤 (shāokǎo, BBQ — major Chinese street-food category), 红烧 (hóngshāo, "red-braised" — a defining technique in Chinese cuisine where ingredients are simmered in soy sauce, sugar, and wine: 红烧肉 hóngshāoròu "red-braised pork belly" is a famous Mao Zedong-era dish). And tellingly: 发烧 (fāshāo, "to send out heat" = to have a fever) — fevers are conceptualized as the body emitting heat / burning up. 发烧友 (fāshāo yǒu, "fever friend") = enthusiast / fan / hobbyist obsessed with something.

Japanese on-reading ショウ (shō) — 燃焼 (nenshō, combustion), 焼却 (shōkyaku, incineration). Kun-readings やく (yaku, to grill / burn) and やける (yakeru, to be cooked / grilled) generate Japanese cuisine's most recognized vocabulary: 焼き鳥 (yakitori, grilled chicken skewers), 焼き肉 (yakiniku, "grilled meat" = Korean-style BBQ adapted in Japan), 焼きそば (yakisoba, "grilled noodles" = stir-fried noodle dish), すき焼き (sukiyaki, "plowed-grill" = the famous beef-and-vegetable hot pot dish). Yaki-anything is everywhere on Japanese menus.

Memory aid: fire (火) plus 堯 (sound) — applying fire to food or fuel = grill / burn / cook over heat.