Sesame Thai Chicken Dip — The Coleslaw’s Secret Cousin at Bobby’s Smoker Spread

Memorial Day weekend. Three days off, kids are with me, and the smoker is running. Memorial Day means one thing in my neighborhood: Bobby's cooking. Not because I organized anything. It just happened. Five years ago I smoked a brisket on Memorial Day and my neighbor Ray from across the street — Ray Gutierrez, retired electrician, Astros fanatic — smelled it and came over with a six-pack of beer. I told him I don't drink. He apologized. I told him to keep the beer and bring his wife. He did. Maria brought potato salad. The next year, two more families showed up. Now it's a thing. This year I smoked two briskets and a rack of pork ribs. Started at midnight Saturday. By noon Sunday the yard smelled like post oak and rendered fat and every dog in the neighborhood was losing its mind. Fourteen people came. Ray and Maria. The Nguyen family from the end of the block — Tam and his wife and their three kids, who play with Lily. Old Mr. Peterson, who's eighty-two and mostly deaf but never misses free brisket. A couple of Tyler's friends from school whose names I can never keep straight. Emma helped me make coleslaw — a Vietnamese-style one with rice vinegar, lime juice, fish sauce, cilantro, and shredded green mango. She's getting better with the knife. Her julienne isn't pretty but it's functional. She asked me to teach her how to make the brisket rub, and I showed her Mr. Clarence's recipe — the one I keep in my wallet. She read it carefully and said, "This is really simple." I said, "The best things usually are." Tyler manned the grill for the burgers — the flat-top griddle, smash burgers, which is a teenager's job and he took to it with the seriousness of a surgeon. He seasoned them right. He knew when to flip. I didn't have to say a word. Somewhere between the ages of twelve and fourteen, my son learned to cook by watching me, and I didn't even notice it happening. Lily ran around the yard with the Nguyen kids and ate her body weight in watermelon. She's happy. She's ten. That's the whole report. Ma came. She sat in the lawn chair I keep for her — the good one, with the cushion — and ate a plate of brisket with rice and pickled vegetables that she brought from home because even at a BBQ, Mai Tran brings her own sides. She told Ray's wife Maria that the potato salad needed more salt. Maria, who does not speak Vietnamese, smiled politely. I translated. Maria added salt. Ma nodded. International diplomacy, resolved. I stood at the smoker as the sun went down and watched these people — my kids, my mother, my neighbors — eating food I made, laughing, alive. This is enough. This is more than enough.

Emma’s Vietnamese coleslaw — the rice vinegar, the fish sauce, the shredded green mango — was the flavor that kept pulling people back to the table, even more than the brisket. That bright, tangy, sesame-laced profile of Southeast Asian cooking has a way of cutting right through rich smoked meat and bringing everything into balance. If you want to bring those same flavors to your next backyard gathering as a starter, this Sesame Thai Chicken Dip is the move — it’s got that same electric combination of lime, sesame, and heat that made the coleslaw disappear in twenty minutes. Set it out with crackers and vegetables while the smoker does its thing, and watch it go before the brisket even comes off the grates.

Sesame Thai Chicken Dip

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 10–12

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (rotisserie works great)
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, divided
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, for heat)
• Crackers, cucumber rounds, or sliced bell peppers for serving

Instructions

1. Shred the chicken. If using a rotisserie chicken, remove the skin and shred the breast and thigh meat with two forks until you have 2 loosely packed cups. Set aside.
2. Make the base. In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with a hand mixer or sturdy spatula until smooth and lump-free, about 1 minute.
3. Add the sauces. Stir in the sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, lime juice, rice vinegar, ginger, and garlic until fully combined with the cream cheese.
4. Fold in the chicken and aromatics. Add the shredded chicken, half the green onions, and half the cilantro. Fold everything together until evenly distributed.
5. Taste and adjust. Taste the dip and add red pepper flakes if you want more heat, or an extra squeeze of lime if you want it brighter. Adjust soy sauce for saltiness.
6. Plate and garnish. Transfer to a serving bowl. Top with the remaining green onions, cilantro, and toasted sesame seeds.
7. Serve. Serve immediately at room temperature with crackers, cucumber slices, or sliced bell peppers. Can also be made up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated — let it sit out 15 minutes before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 160 | Protein: 10g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 8g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 310mg