Chinese Five Spice Ribs with an Asian Noodle Slaw

This was a huge experiment! I asked my hubby to make me a list of veggies that he was in the mood for and one of the things he mentioned was cabbage. I have a few lovely cabbage recipes that I grew up with, but most of them were winter-related and not really suited for the summer.

As I did our weekly shopping, I came across the pork ribs and they were on offer! I thought that this will go so well with a nice coleslaw, so into the basket they went. Since we are both trying to be healthier I knew that the traditional creamy coleslaw is not going to work so I whizzed this up one evening.

As we sat down to eat and the hubby tucked into his ribs, he said: ‘wow! We should have this again!’ It was at that moment that I realised I only threw things together and hoped for the best… Luckily I am weird, so I photograph my meals and ingredients as I am cooking so I was able to write the recipe down. This was perfect for two, plus some left overs.

Ribs

• 500g Pork Ribs (already cut into separate bones)
• 10 cloves
• 1 tablespoon Chinese Five Spice
• 2 tablespoons Soy sauce
• Sea Salt

Method

Put the ribs on the hob and pour all ingredients into the pot. Cover completely with water. Boil at a medium to high heat for 1 hour.

Glaze

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons plum sauce
• 1 tablespoon chinese five spice
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 inch ginger, minced
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Method

Once ribs have cooked through, take out of the pot (reserve the liquid) and place in an oven dish. Cover with the glaze and place uncovered in the oven at 220 degrees celsius for 20 minutes.

Noodle Slaw

• 50g Green beans, topped and tailed
• 100g baby sweetcorn, halved lengthwise
• 80g spaghetti or udon noodles
• 100g spring cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, peeled
• 1/2 red pepper, cubed
• 1/2 yellow pepper, cubed
• 4 spring onions, chopped
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 handful cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3 inches cucumber, cored and julienned

Method

Blanch the green beans and the sweet corn in the reserved cooking liquid. Let it boil for no more than three minutes, before taking it out and placing it aside to cool.

Top up the cooking liquid with water, add salt and cook the spaghetti until it is al dente. Discard the liquid, taking care to remove the cloves from the spaghetti.

Grate the carrot, slice the cabbage and celery with a food processor if you are short on time.

Combine all the slaw ingredients and cover with the dressing.

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

• Basil, sliced
• Sesame seeds

Place the noodle slaw in a bowl and arrange the ribs on top. Scatter over the basil and the sesame seeds before serving.

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Here’s a few more salad recipes: