Link to tab outside of tab div

I am working one a dev site for a restaurant and they would like the food menu items to open in tabs. Is it possible to create a link (on the same page as the tabs) that could open a tab’s content outside of the tab div.

Want I want to achieve is to have the link open the tab content as if it were that tabs title.
…(again, the link would be on the same page)
For Example:

<a href="#tabs_desc_55_1">Hot Sandwiches</a>

<div id="tab_container_55">
	<ul class="wpsm_nav wpsm_nav-tabs" role="tablist" id="myTab_55">
		<li role="presentation" class="">
		    <a href="#tabs_desc_55_1" aria-controls="tabs_desc_55_1" role="tab" data-toggle="tab" aria-expanded="false">
		     <span>Hot Sandwiches</span></a></li>
					  <!-- Tab panes -->
			<div class="tab-content" id="tab-content_55">
		<div role="tabpanel" class="tab-pane animated active" id="tabs_desc_55_1">
		<h3>Hot Sandwiches</h3>
				<small><em>Served on  pita bread and your choice of fries, double salad, hummus or spanakopita.</em></small>

https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/tabs-responsive/