 The dish's name is a compound word, from "aso", the Filipino word for "dog" and Spanish word "cena", which means "dinner" or "an evening meal", the literal translation being "dog-meal" or "a meal of dog meat".It may also be a play on the Spanish name "Azucena", which is also used to describe a variety of fragrant, white rice.Asocena is usually consumed as "pulutan" (Tagalog; snacks or food served while drinking alcoholic beverages; loosely translates to "finger food").