SMOKED ALASKAN WHITE KING SALMON ON A BED OF SUCCOTASH TOPPED WITH ALFALFA SPROUTS Recipe

I was introduced to white king salmon--or ivory salmon--more than a decade ago. Since then, it has always been on my radar screen.

White king salmon has a softer flesh and is buttery and silky, less "meaty" than red salmon. It is clearly salmon, but with flavors evocative of perch and Chilean sea bass. A white king salmon is considered to be an oddity where only one in 100 wild kings is white, and there is no way to know until a fish is gutted whether it has white or red flesh. One theory about white king salmon is that they eat a different diet from their red counterparts. The bright-red color of wild salmon comes from a diet of shrimps, krill and crabs that contain carotenoids, natural pigments found in plants and animals. Beta-carotene, which makes carrots orange, is probably the most familiar one. Some scientists believe that white salmon eat mostly squid and fish, which have fewer carotenoids. Okay, enough. I'm starting to sound like Alton Brown.