Search for the best types of salmon to buy and three names keep surfacing: Ora King, Atlantic, and sockeye. Only two of them are species. Ora King is a trademark of The New Zealand King Salmon Company for the king salmon it raises in open net pens in the Marlborough Sounds, selected over many generations for taste, texture, and color. It is good fish with a good story, and the brand has earned its reputation.
It is also king salmon, a species you can buy from more than one source. Nordic Catch does not sell Ora King. We sell wild king salmon from Alaska and Canada, the rare wild ivory king, and a farmed king raised in freshwater in New Zealand, alongside our sushi-grade Icelandic Atlantic salmon and wild sockeye from the Fraser River. So if you came here for Ora King, here is what makes it king salmon, and the king salmon we ship.
Across mouthfeel, cooking forgiveness, and depth of flavor, king salmon comes out ahead. Icelandic Atlantic is the clear pick for sashimi and the easiest on the budget, and sockeye owns the lean, deep red, wild end of the table. We credit both below.
How We Scored It
We scored the three salmon as they land on a plate, using species facts from NOAA Fisheries, nutrition data from USDA FoodData Central, FDA guidance on raw fish, and our own product pages. Mouthfeel and cooking forgiveness carry the most weight because they decide how the fish eats on most nights.
- Mouthfeel: how much fat the fish carries, and how that fat reads as texture on the fork.
- Raw-ready: how well the fish suits sashimi, poke, and crudo, and what handling that takes.
- Cooking forgiveness: how wide the window is between undercooked and dry.
- Flavor character: how distinct and how deep the flavor is, cooked or raw.
- Value: what a portion costs and how far it goes.
Types of Salmon
Six salmon reach American tables with any regularity: five Pacific species and one Atlantic. Every figure below is from the NOAA Fisheries profile linked on each name.
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Chinook, or king: the largest Pacific salmon, typically about 3 feet and 30 pounds and recorded as heavy as 129 pounds. The meat is almost always red, except for a rare white-meat variety sold as ivory king.
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Sockeye, or red salmon: one of the smaller Pacific salmon at 4 to 15 pounds, with the reddest flesh of any wild salmon. Almost all of the U.S. catch comes from Alaska.
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Coho, or silver: usually 8 to 12 pounds, with reddish-orange meat paler than Chinook or sockeye.
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Pink, or humpy: the smallest at 3.5 to 5 pounds and the most abundant. Low oil, mild, pale pink, sold fresh in season and canned year-round.
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Chum, or keta: 8 to 15 pounds on average, with lower oil than the other Pacific species and flesh paler than sockeye, coho, or Chinook.
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Atlantic: a single species, 8 to 12 pounds after two years at sea. The wild Gulf of Maine population is listed as endangered and fishing for it is prohibited, so every Atlantic salmon in a U.S. market is farmed, including ours from Iceland.
Ora King, our wild king, our ivory king, and our New Zealand freshwater king are all one species, Chinook. Chinook are not native to New Zealand; they were introduced from California stock and now support both sea-pen and freshwater farms there. For more on how Atlantic and Pacific salmon differ, read our post on Atlantic salmon vs Alaskan salmon.
Mouthfeel and Fat
Mouthfeel starts with fat, and USDA FoodData Central puts numbers on it. Per 100 grams raw, farmed Atlantic salmon carries about 13.4 grams of fat and 208 calories, Chinook about 10.4 grams and 179 calories, and sockeye about 4.7 grams and 131 calories. Omega-3 follows the same order at the top: farmed Atlantic and Chinook each hold close to 2 grams of EPA and DHA combined per 100 grams, and sockeye about 0.7 grams. Protein is similar across all three, 20 to 22 grams.
On fat alone, farmed Atlantic edges king. At the table, king still eats as the most buttery of the three, and that is why it scores a hair ahead on mouthfeel. Chinook is the largest Pacific salmon, and a thick portion from a large fish has the broadest, loosest flake of any salmon, so every bite carries oil. Our New Zealand freshwater king is prized for exactly that marbling. Sockeye is a different animal: lean, firm, and dense, closer to a steak than to butter.
- King, 9.6: high fat, the largest flake, and a buttery give in every bite.
- Icelandic Atlantic, 9.4: the most fat by the USDA numbers, with a finer, firmer flake.
- Sockeye, 6.4: less than half the fat of the other two, lean and dense by design.
Raw-Ready for Sashimi and Poke
Sushi grade is a handling term, not a government grade. No U.S. agency inspects a fillet and stamps it. What makes raw salmon safe is the species, how it was raised or frozen, and an unbroken cold chain to your cutting board. Our guide to what sushi grade salmon really means covers the label in depth.
Wild salmon eat prey that can carry parasites, so the FDA Fish and Fishery Products Hazards Guide sets freezing at -4F for 7 days, or at -31F until solid and then 15 hours at -31F, as sufficient to kill them. The same guide says fish raised only on pelleted feed in an aquaculture operation need not be treated as a parasite hazard. That is why farmed Atlantic became the sashimi standard worldwide, and why our Icelandic salmon loin and Icelandic sushi-grade portions are handled for raw service from the start. Our wild king and wild sockeye are sold frozen for cooking, with no raw claim. Among the kings, the New Zealand freshwater king is the one we sell for sashimi, crudo, or sushi.
Two more plain facts. The FDA advises pregnant women, young children, older adults, and anyone with a weakened immune system to skip raw fish altogether, and to hold seafood at 40F or below. And "never frozen" describes texture, not parasite safety. Our post on farmed vs wild salmon for sushi goes further.
- Icelandic Atlantic, 9.6: farmed and handled for raw service, our sushi-grade flagship.
- King, 8.2: the New Zealand freshwater king is sold for sashimi and crudo; the wild kings are for cooking.
- Sockeye, 5.8: wild, sold frozen for cooking, and best served that way.
Cooking Forgiveness
Fat is insurance in a hot pan. It bastes the flesh from inside and keeps a fillet moist after a lean fish has already tightened. King has the widest window of the three. A thick portion seared skin-down and finished gently stays silky even when you miss by a minute, and the large flake hides small errors.
Atlantic is nearly as forgiving. It has the fat, and its finer flake sets evenly, so it is the fish we hand to new cooks. Sockeye punishes inattention. With under 5 grams of fat per 100 grams, it moves from translucent to dry quickly, so cook it lower, pull it sooner, and leave the skin on. The FDA guideline for fully cooked seafood is 145F; many cooks pull salmon earlier for a softer center, and our post on the best ways to cook salmon covers each method.
- King, 9.4: the widest window, thick portions, and a flake that stays moist.
- Icelandic Atlantic, 8.6: nearly as forgiving, and the easiest fish for a first sear.
- Sockeye, 6.2: lean, fast, and unforgiving past medium.
Flavor Character
This is where sockeye wins a round. NOAA describes sockeye as having a rich flavor that rivals Chinook, and on the plate that flavor is bold, deep, and unmistakably wild, with the reddest flesh of any wild salmon. If you want salmon that tastes like the river it came from, sockeye is the pick, and it cures and smokes beautifully.
King is a close second with a different personality: deep, buttery, and gently sweet, the flavor most people picture in a luxury fillet. Ivory king is a wild Chinook whose flesh never stores the red pigment, a rare natural variation rather than a separate species. Atlantic is the mildest of the three, clean and smooth, which is why sushi bars default to it and why it takes so well to soy, citrus, and cold smoke, as in our Icelandic Nova lox.
- Sockeye, 9.4: the deepest color and the boldest, most clearly wild flavor.
- King, 9.2: buttery, sweet, and distinct, the classic luxury salmon.
- Icelandic Atlantic, 6.8: mild and clean, a canvas more than a statement.
Price and Value
Atlantic is the value leader, and the gap is real. A skinless Atlantic salmon portion for sushi from British Columbia is $13, an Icelandic sushi-grade portion is $16, and a whole 5-pound Icelandic fillet is $179. Sockeye lands close behind: a whole wild fillet of 1.5 to 1.8 pounds is $69 and stretches across several dinners.
King costs the most per portion, as it should. The wild king portion is $27, the New Zealand freshwater king is $24, and the ivory king is $29. You are paying for the largest wild salmon in the Pacific and, in the ivory case, for scarcity. Order by 10am Pacific for same-day processing, and standard shipping is free nationwide on orders over $219.
- Stock the freezer on Atlantic, by the portion, the bulk case, or the whole fillet.
- Buy one wild sockeye fillet and plan two or three meals around it.
- Save king for the plate where the fish is the whole point.
Bottom line
Icelandic Atlantic wins for sashimi and for price, and sockeye wins for lean, wild flavor. King wins the comparison on mouthfeel, forgiveness, and depth, the three things most cooks want from a salmon dinner.
Who Each One Is For
Icelandic Atlantic is for the sushi night, the poke bowl, and the weeknight cook who wants a soft, mild fillet that is hard to ruin. If you have read that farmed salmon is a compromise, our post on whether farm-raised salmon is bad for you covers the sourcing and handling that matter.
Sockeye is for the cook who wants wild flavor first and will watch the pan: the grill, the smoker, the cedar plank. King is for the plate where the salmon is the event, a thick center-cut sear, a slow roast, or a crudo from the New Zealand freshwater king. If you came here for Ora King, this is your fish.
The Verdict
King salmon wins this comparison on the things that reach the plate: the largest flake, a buttery texture, a wide cooking window, and a flavor with real depth. Icelandic Atlantic finishes a close second and takes raw-ready and value outright, so it is the salmon we recommend for sashimi and most weeknights. Sockeye finishes third on average and first on flavor character, the choice for a lean, deep red, wild salmon.
Ora King built its name on king salmon, and the species is what you are tasting. We sell it wild from Alaska and Canada, as the rare ivory king, and farmed in New Zealand freshwater, next to Icelandic Atlantic and wild sockeye. Browse the fresh seafood collection to compare the cuts side by side.
