Chicken Tenders

Method

1. marinate30 min
   buttermilk + hot sauce, 30 minutes to overnight
   tenders submerged — the buttermilk's lactic acid relaxes the muscle the way a hard citrus marinade cannot, gently enough to leave overnight; the hot sauce seasons without making anything spicy
2. mix2 min
   the dredge, plus a spoonful of buttermilk
   flour + cornstarch + salt + paprika + garlic powder + pepper, then a spoonful of the marinade rubbed in to make small clumps — those clumps fry into the craggy shards that make restaurant tenders look the way they do; the cornstarch is the crunch insurance
3. season5 min
   wet hand, dry hand, pressed hard
   each tender from buttermilk into the dredge, PRESSED firmly so the flour bonds — coating laid on gently lifts off in the oil in sheets; one hand stays wet and one stays dry, or both become breaded
4. rest10 min
   on a rack, dredged
   the coated tenders while the oil heats — the resting flour hydrates and grips; tenders fried straight from the dredge shed their crust, rested ones keep it
5. fry12 min
   350°F, batches of 4–5, to 165°F inside
   3–4 minutes a batch to deep gold, drained on a rack, salted the second they land — hot crust takes salt like a sponge, cooled crust sheds it; the rack keeps the bottoms crisp where paper towels would steam them