bake, burning
焼 centers on applying heat to transform something: baking food and burning fuel are both ways fire changes what it touches.
焼 is the modern simplified form of 燒. The older form combines 火 (fire) with 堯, which likely contributed the sound and the idea of high heat. The modern right side 尭 is a simplification.
The left side is fire 火, and the right side 尭 looks like a tall oven with a vent on top. Picture a fire heating the oven to bake bread or burn fuel.
For ショウ, imagine a baker showing off a perfectly baked loaf from the oven: show -> ショウ, and the fire 火 did the baking.
to burn
roasting; grilling; toasting; broiling; baking
yakiniku; Japanese dish of grilled meat similar to Korean barbecue
burning; combustion
to burn; to burn down; to go down in flames
shōchū; Japanese spirit distilled from sweet potatoes, rice, etc.
sunburn; suntan; tan
yakisoba; fried noodles, usu. with vegetables and meat
okonomiyaki; savoury pancake fried on an iron griddle with vegetables, meat and/or seafood and topped with various sauces and condiments
yakitori; chicken pieces (or sometimes beef or pork offal) grilled on a skewer
takoyaki; octopus dumplings
incineration; destruction by fire
roasted pork fillet (often used in ramen)
sukiyaki; thin slices of beef, cooked with various vegetables in a table-top cast-iron pan
fried egg; sunny-side up fried egg
evening glow; red sunset; afterglow (of sunset)
total destruction by fire; being burned down
rolled egg; rolled omelette (omelet)
roasted sweet potato; baked sweet potato
destruction by fire; losing in a fire; being burnt down