So there are two ways of going about pre-flavoring meat. Wet marinades or dry rubs. Wet marinades typically need to sit/soak for awhile, often overnight. Dry rubs are good to go. But I wanted a wet marinade. So thanks to the internet I found a recipe for a 25 minute wet marinade before frying. (I was mostly wary of this since even when I have marinated chicken overnight, the flavor rarely shines through the fried exterior.) And it didn't really work, but I'm ok with that because my chicken was incredibly juicy and tender.
The recipe called for soy sauce, lime juice, sugar, and dark rum. I opted for soy sauce, lime juice, sugar, sesame oil, and a splash of light rum.
While the chicken soaked I prepared the flour. On a plate I mixed flour with paprika, chili powder, onion/garlic powder, salt, and pepper. So with breading/frying, there are a couple approaches. You can dip in flour, put in an egg wash, then dredge in bread crumbs. I went for a simpler approach of dredging directly in the flour from the marinade.
From here, I put the tenders directly into a pot of oil on medium heat on my stove. The goal is to get that sizzle when you first add your chicken, but not have the oil so hot that it immediately burns the flour. You need enough time for the chicken to cook through without burning the exterior. I recommend a practice chicken tender that you cut in half when it's cooked to the color you want, and then adjusting the oil temperature/cook time accordingly.
When done frying, put on a paper towel to drain, and serve. I found that right out of the oil it was incredibly crispy and the inside was super moist. But when I ate one that had been sitting for awhile, the juice from the inside started to take away the crunch from the exterior. I'd recommend serving immediately, or being more careful to remove excess liquid before dredging in flour and frying if you want the crunch to last longest.
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