Oven Roast

• In Cuba, asado is a favorite technique for roasting pork and chicken (lechon asado or pollo asado). Meat or poultry is marinated in citrus juices, garlic, oregano and other herbs for a few hours or overnight before roasting. Sour, or Seville, orange is the go-to citrus for many Latin preparations; if that's not available, add lemon and lime juice to regular orange juice. Bake chicken or pork covered in the oven, or for a more traditional roasted pork (lechon asado), roast it covered on your barbecue grill.

Grill

• Although carne in Spanish means meat in general, the phrase carne asada most often refers to beef. In Mexico and other cultures where tacos are popular, flank, strip or flap steak is marinated in lime or orange juice, then grilled over an open fire. Use your oven broiler if grilling is not possible. In Argentina, asado describes an iconic dish: beef steak grilled over wood or hardwood charcoal. In an exception to most asado techniques, the meat is not marinated but seasoned simply with salt and grilled. A vinegar-based garlic and parsley sauce, chimichurri, is the traditional accompaniment.

Slow-Cook

• For large cuts of beef or pork, slow-cooking is a great way to achieve the fork-tenderness typical of traditional asados. Slow-cooker recipes for a beef rump or pork shoulder roast compress marinating and cooking and tend to include a generous amount of sliced onion, which make a delicious side-dish. Slow-cooker carne asada can be shredded with forks and piled into tortillas or served over rice.

Asian Asados

• In the Spanish-speaking Phillipines, asado describes a braising method for meat or chicken that includes tomato sauce and potatoes. Bay leaf, lemon juice and soy sauce create the traditional flavor balance. Meat or chicken is browned, then stewed in the oven or on the stovetop until potatoes are tender. Since Filipino cuisine is less familiar than some other Asian cuisines in the West, food writers caution that the asado used in Filipino siopao, or steamed pork buns, is not the same as the sweet Chinese char siu bao, which oven-barbecues pork marinated in soy sauce, garlic, five-spice powder and hoisin sauce to form the filling.