I’ve spent a large part of the past 12 years cooking, eating and writing about authentic American low and slow BBQ. Some of my favourite meals have been in rickety roadside BBQ joints, gnawing on tender, succulent and smoky ribs alongside crunchy slaw and a big pile of steamed greens. Slow-cooked pork ramen is amazing so I thought I’d have a bit of fun with it and recreate a classic deep south BBQ dish in the ramen bowl using smoked ribs that have been covered in a Japanese-inspired BBQ rub and glazed with Asian style BBQ sauce. The greens are added straight to the broth to soften and we’re also using a ‘slaw’ of grated carrot and shredded cabbage for crunch with a drizzle of Kewpie Japanese mayo to top it off.

Ingredients

1 x Kabuto Spicy Garlic Ramen Kit

1 slab of spare ribs

¼ head of red cabbage, finely shredded

1 medium carrot, grated

Two large handfuls of rainbow chard or any leafy green you fancy.

For the rub (mix together)

1½ tbsp shichimi togarashi seasoning

1 tbsp demerara sugar

1 tbsp salt

FOR the BBQ GLAZE

Equal parts hoisin sauce and BBQ sauce

FOR THE GARNISH

Kewpie Mayo

Fresh coriander leaves

Sliced red or green jalapeno chilli peppers

Shichimi togarashi 

Method

1. Remove the membrane from the back of ribs using a piece of kitchen roll.

2. Generously season the ribs all over with the BBQ rub then set aside in the fridge for a few hours.

3. Set your smoker going and stabilise the temperature at around 110°C.

4. Add a couple of smoking wood chunks then place the ribs on the smoker, meat side up.

5. After 2-3 hours, the ribs will have taken on a lovely colour and you will see a bark has started to form. Now is the time to foil them.

6. Place a sheet of foil down and make a thin bed of brown sugar.

7. Lay the ribs onto the sugar meat side down.

8. Carefully wrap the ribs in the foil to seal them up, adding a splash of apple juice as you go to help keep things moist.

9. Place back on the smoker for another hour or two.

10. Very carefully remove the ribs from the foil and place back on the smoker meat side up – they should be very tender and almost falling apart by this point.

11. Brush the meat with the BBQ glaze then close the lid whilst you get everything else ready.

12. Mix up the ramen broth and noodles as per the pack instructions and ladle into bowls.

13. Add the greens, carrot and cabbage.

14. Carefully remove the ribs from the smoker and then either remove the meat from the bones and add to the bowl, or, if you prefer, slice into individual ribs and add them (bone and all) to the bowl.

15. Garnish with coriander, sliced chillis and shichimi then a generous drizzle of Kewpie.