Recipe: Meatless meals can be crowd favorites

During Lent, many Christians engage in Friday fasts. The fast involves avoiding meat and leads many to fish- and vegetable-based dishes for their Friday meals.

Expanding the possibilities for meat-free meals becomes a priority during Lent. This recipe for "Sea Bass Tacos" from "Judy Joo's Korean Soul Food" (White Lion Publishing) blends the flavors of Korean cooking with Mexican cuisine.

Sea Bass Tacos

Makes 8 tacos

• 3 ¾ ounces tempura flour
• 3 ¾ fluid ounces soda water
• 7 ounces sea bass fillets, skin removed, deboned and cut into 3⁄4- x 1 1⁄2-inch strips
• Vegetable oil for frying
• Sea salt

Kimchi salsa

• 3 ½ ounces cabbage kimchi, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
• ¾ ounce tomato, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
• ¾ ounces pickled jalapenos, diced into 1/4-inch pieces

Slaw

• 4 teaspoons yuzu juice
• 3 tablespoons Kewpie mayonnaise
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• ½ cucumber, deseeded and julienned
• ½ Asian pear, peeled and julienned

To serve

• 8 taco shells (5 inches in diameter)
• 8 teaspoons sour cream
• 1 small tomato, finely diced
• Baby coriander (cilantro)

1. First, make the kimchi salsa. In a medium bowl, toss together the kimchi, tomato and jalapenos until evenly mixed, then set aside.

2. Next, to make the slaw, whisk the yuzu juice and mayonnaise together in a medium bowl. Stir in the red onion, cucumber and pear. Cover and leave in the fridge.

3. Half fill a heavy-based saucepan with oil and heat to 350 F.

4. Make the tempura batter just before frying. In a bowl, whisk together the tempura flour and soda water, making sure to keep it lumpy.

5. Salt the sea bass on both sides. Working in batches, dip the fish into the tempura batter, and fry for about 3 to 4 minutes, until the batter is golden brown and the fish is cooked. Place on a rack to drain off any excess oil and keep warm while you cook the rest.

6. Heat the taco shells according to the packet instructions.

7. Line the shells up on a plate and add a piece of the fish to each one. Top with the slaw and then the salsa. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream, diced tomato and baby coriander.