Several parts combine into one character.

Compound ideograph: 米 (rice, just discussed) + 斗 (a measuring scoop / dipper for grain). The encoded meaning: "to measure rice with a scoop" → to estimate / appraise / charge a fee. From the physical act of measuring food grew the abstract senses: ingredient, fee, data, material. Identical across 繁體 / 新字体 / 简体.

料 anchors a wide vocabulary across food, finance, and information across CJK languages.

Mandarin: liào, falling 4th tone. 料理 (liàolǐ, to handle / cuisine — the second meaning, "cuisine", was actually borrowed from Japanese), 材料 (cáiliào, materials), 资料 (zīliào, data / information — used constantly in academic and business contexts), 饮料 (yǐnliào, beverage), 香料 (xiāngliào, spice), 不料 (búliào, "unexpectedly" — adverb), 照料 (zhàoliào, to take care of). The Mandarin 资料 (zīliào, data) is one of the most-typed words in office Chinese.

Japanese: on-reading リョウ (ryō) is dominant — 料理 (ryōri, cooking / cuisine — Japan exported this word back to Mandarin meaning "cuisine"), 料金 (ryōkin, fee / charge — see this on every Japanese transit pass and parking sign), 無料 (muryō, free of charge), 有料 (yūryō, paid / fee-required), 材料 (zairyō, materials), 飲料 (inryō, beverage), 給料 (kyūryō, salary). 給料日 (kyūryōbi, payday) anchors the Japanese workplace calendar.

The word 料理 (ryōri/liàolǐ) is a notable Japan-to-China loan in the modern era — Japanese kanji compounds were re-borrowed into Mandarin during the Meiji-era modernization.

Memory aid: rice + measuring scoop = the act of portioning → the abstract ideas of fee, material, and cuisine.