It has darker meat, which is firm and holds together when cooked. It is particularly susceptible to overcooking.
The larger fish can be broken down into boneless fillets along the same lines as described in the chapter on hapuku, bass and bluenose. It is important to keen the grain as long as possible. Smaller kingfish are ideal for steaking and can be cooked skin on. Kingfish flesh is quite dark when raw, lightening on cooking, and is strong in flavour. It has a reasonable amount of oil, so smokes and cans/bottles well.
Size can be deceptive. Kingfish are protected by one of the longest minimum-length limits in the Ministry of Fisheries regulations (75cm nationwide), so be wary of this and check any fish you may consider ‘marginal’.