Chilli Salt Corn Ribs with Charred Spring Onion Butter

Difficulty: Easy | Prep: 15 min | Cook: 15 min | Total: 30 min | Serves: 4 | Dietary: Gluten-Free

Corn ribs are just corn cobs cut into quarters lengthways, and they curl up like actual ribs when the heat hits them. They are the best thing you can put on a barbecue next to the snags, and Chooki's Chilli Chicken Salt is what makes them worth fighting over. The spring onion butter is the bit people ask about.

Step 1: Soften the corn

Microwave the cobs on high for 4 minutes. This is not optional. Raw corn is brutal to cut and you will end up chasing a cob across the bench with a big knife. Let them cool for a minute, stand each one on its end, cut down through the middle, then cut each half in half again. You get four ribs per cob.

Step 2: Char the spring onions

Get the barbecue hot. Lay the whole spring onions straight on the grill and turn them until the green tops are blackened in patches and the white ends have gone soft, about 4 minutes. Pull them off, chop them finely, then mash them through the butter with the teaspoon of Chilli Chicken Salt and the lemon juice. The char is what stops it tasting like plain garlic butter.

Step 3: Grill the ribs

Toss the corn ribs in the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of Chooki's Chilli Chicken Salt, kernel side up so the seasoning sits in the rows. Lay them kernel side down on the hot grill for 5 minutes until they curl and blister, then flip and give them another 4 minutes. They should be deep gold with black edges.

Step 4: Butter and serve

Pile them on a board while they are still hot and spoon the spring onion butter over the top so it melts into the kernels. Scatter the coriander over. Eat them with your hands, there is no polite way.

Tip: Seasoning them before they go on the grill matters more than seasoning after. The oil holds the salt in the kernel rows, and the heat toasts it into the corn instead of it falling straight off onto the plate.