Not Another Fried Chicken

A buttermilk brine and corn starch work wonders on this super crispy bird

Continuing last week’s theme of universally crowd-pleasing basics, I recently fried up some chicken. I realize this may be a bit boring; fried chicken is, somewhat obnoxiously, everywhere these days, with the ubiquitous “chicken sandwich wars” providing way too much food-blog fodder and virtually every other establishment in the country taking their stab at a fried bird. (Though I hear the chicken sandwich at Rowdy Rooster is one worth waiting in line for.) Nevertheless, with unused buttermilk sitting in my fridge and a few free-range chicken thighs in tow from the farmers market, I decided to do my part.

As we all likely know, there are manifest ways to fry a chicken, and they’re all good. I can never decide if I prefer the Korean or Southern-American approach, but due to the ticking clock of my buttermilk, I went with the latter. (Buttermilk is also great at tenderizing and flavoring the meat, and helps create that beautifully craggy crust.) Consulting a variety of recipes, namely that of Kenji Lopez-Alt, I charted the following course: