Cream cheese, sweet chili sauce and cilantro dip
Cream cheese, sweet chili sauce and cilantro dip with optional smashed potatoes
This is a snack that my husband and I used to serve at dinner parties when we were newly married people in our first home in Sydney. It is a very of-the-time pre-dinner snack - a block of cream cheese, topped with Thai sweet chili sauce, and finished with a mound of coriander (cilantro). It feels peak Sydney 2000’s. It’s essentially a dip that we always served it with rice crackers.
For my family, I served it as a side dish, topped with roasted potatoes, injecting new life to a trusted memory. So many memories are made when we share experiences.
Serves 4 as a snack / gluten free
Ingredients
- 1 (227g / 8-ounces) block cream cheese
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup sweet chili sauce, or more to taste
- 1/2 cup (15g) coriander / cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- crackers, to serve
Smashed spiced potatoes (optional)
- sea salt and black pepper
- 675g (1 1/2 pounds) fingerling, chat, new or red washed potatoes, halved or cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 teaspoon garlic or onion powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked or sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- black pepper
- 3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
To make the dip:
Place the whole block of cream cheese onto a small serving plate. Pour over the sweet chili sauce, to completely smother the block of cream cheese. Top with the coriander/cilantro leaves. Serve with crackers to scoop it up, or spread it out across a serving plate and top with roasted potatoes (recipe below)
For the smashed spiced potatoes:
To make the potatoes: Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the potatoes and cook boil for 10 minutes.
Heat the oven to 425˚F / 220˚C.
Drain the potatoes and add to a baking sheet. Add the garlic or onion powder, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper and toss to coat. Roast for 20 minutes, remove from oven and crush the potatoes slightly with the bottom of a glass, letting them break apart. Return to the oven and roast until golden and crispy, another 15 to 20 minutes.
To serve, prepare the cream cheese, sweet chili sauce and cilantro as above and then using the back of a wooden or large serving spoon, smash it down and spread it across the plate to create a flat dip. Top with the roasted potatoes.