The meat-flesh radical below (the side-form of 肉) is the indexing component. It pins the meaning to cooked meat dishes, the heart of 佳肴. Same flesh family as 肝 and 肚.
The crossing strokes at the top sit over the meat element below. Historically a phonetic-flavored marker for the yáo reading; in the modern shape it functions mainly as the top graphic component, not a meaning-bearer.
