Family he belongs to and places where he can be found

The Ora King salmon, a member of the Salmonidae family and scientifically named Oncorhynchus tshawytscha , is perhaps the world's first farmed king salmon. The king salmon, also known as the Red King, is a very rare species, representing only 1% of the world 's salmon catch . Its natural habitat extends across several areas: the North Pacific Ocean, Japan, and the Bering Sea, as well as Australia, Chile, Argentina, and New Zealand. Like all wild salmon species, the Red King makes regular migrations to the upper reaches of rivers, where it spawns. Young salmon reach the sea at around one year of age, and it is an epipelagic fish, meaning it lives between the surface and 200 meters deep, although it is believed to be able to dive down to 375 meters.

Where is Ora King Salmon, the world's first farmed king salmon, farmed?

Breeding in New Zealand

Among the various areas where this particular salmon can be found is New Zealand; here, king salmon has been farmed since 1996 in the crystal-clear waters of the Marlborough Sounds, one of the cleanest marine environments in the world.

It is precisely the integrity of this marine environment that underpins all of the farm's practices, which have earned several certifications, including the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), which certifies the facility's environmentally and socially responsible production. As mentioned above, salmon spend most of their lives at sea, swimming up freshwater rivers only to spawn; the farm reproduces this natural cycle, ensuring and respecting the life cycle of this prized salmon to the fullest. In fact, the salmon are raised in pens located at sea, with a stocking density of only 2% fish and approximately 98% water, to ensure optimal space for their development.

Fed a balanced, rigorous and sustainable diet – GMO-free but rich in proteins, minerals and carbohydrates – which changes throughout the salmon's life cycle , optimal growth of the species is guaranteed: thanks to the underwater camera system that constantly monitors the salmon and their appetite, the right amount of food is guaranteed.

A sustainable farm

Across three facilities on New Zealand’s South Island, a sustainable salmon farming program has been in place for over 25 years, resulting in the birth of 9 generations of King salmon and 100 distinct families .

Each year, in fact, only the finest salmon are selected based on their highest quality characteristics, thus determining the best specimens for production. It is thanks to this sustainable philosophy and the selection of the finest salmon that the Ora King species was born, unlike any other salmon species in the world.

How are Ora King salmon farmed?

The breeding program begins at the Takaka freshwater fry farm, where the eggs are raised in some of the clearest, purest water in the world, flowing from Te Waikoropupu Springs, New Zealand's largest springs and the largest cold-water spring in the Southern Hemisphere. These waters were called "ora" by the Maori, meaning the purest form of water, and are even said to have healing powers, hence the salmon's name.

King salmon are raised naturally and sustainably , in an ideal habitat that mimics the life cycle of wild salmon. Once fertilized, the eggs are hatched in the freshwater facility in Tentburn ; within the first year, the fry are transported to the Marlborough Sounds to grow in marine waters with relatively strong currents, mimicking the life cycle of wild salmon.

When the salmon reach an average size of 4 kg, they are ready to be caught with specially designed nets and transported, on ice and in special tankers, to the Nelson processing plant. Upon arrival at the Nelson processing plant, each salmon is carefully washed and sorted by expert hands , who carefully examine each fish to ensure it meets Ora King specifications. Each salmon is given a numbered gill tag bearing the Ora King brand , ensuring product traceability and authenticity .

Find out more about Conkilia on Ora King Salmon!

Sea Wagyu and the competitions for the best recipes

Ora King Salmon is known as the "Wagyu of the Sea" due to its high fat content. Just as Wagyu is one of the most famous types of meat, known for its rich marbled texture—rich in unsaturated fats—so Ora King Salmon, with its bright orange flesh and particularly marbled , high-quality meat, is known for its high fat content. Its fiber-rich, buttery flavor has a distinctive sweetness rarely found in other salmon species.

And although salmon is commonly thought of as a fish typical of Northern Europe – just think of the huge Norwegian salmon market – in reality Ora king salmon comes, we might say, from the other side of the world.

Not only in New Zealand, where L'Ora King has now become widespread, but also in Italy it is enjoying particular success, representing a gastronomic novelty and a must-have for Italian chefs and those around the world, who today present it as an exclusive on their menus.

In fact, the Ora King Awards were established in 2013, aimed at rewarding the recipes of the best Chefs that have New Zealand Salmon as their main ingredient: the chefs participate by proposing their “Best Ora King Dish” and the finalists of the competition fly to the oceanic island to participate in the prestigious participation ceremony, meeting colleagues with whom they can exchange ideas, philosophies and culinary styles.

You can purchase this product on www.conkilia.it

You can purchase Ora King salmon in its natural or smoked form. For the natural version, Conkilia allows chefs and restaurateurs to conveniently purchase king salmon fillets directly from home:

• Ora King Trim D Salmon Fillet , for those who want almost completely processed fillets, without dark meat and belly scraps.

In fact, going into more detail, if we talk about Trim D , we are dealing with the trimming of salmon; we are therefore talking about a processed product, with an almost complete absence of waste, and this explains why it can have a higher price than a Trim of a higher letter , which instead has a higher percentage of waste.

The characteristics of a D trim are:

1. Backbone off 7. Pin bone out
2. Bellybone off 8. Back Trimmed
3. Backfin off 9. Tail piece off
4. Collarbone off 10. Belly membrane off
5. Belly fat off 11. Nape trimmed
6. Belly fins off

As for the smoked Ora King, we're talking about smoking using Manuka wood. Manuka is a plant native to Australia and New Zealand, widely used to produce the honey of the same name, known for its significant antibacterial properties. The Ora King salmon—after being filleted and completely deboned—is marinated in sea salt and organic cane sugar, then slowly and cold-smoked using the burning of the wood from this unique plant. The result combines the sweet, marbled flesh of the king salmon with a light smoking process, which enhances its flavor and makes it appetizing and inviting.

Once again, Conkilia, thanks to its platform, allows chefs and professionals in the Ho.Re.Ca sector to purchase smoked Ora King directly from the company that raises and processes the salmon, thus adding a key ingredient to their menus for preparing appetizers, Yakitori-style grills, or smoked sashimi.

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