Fried Chicken

Adapted from Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller

Serves 4

Before I cook chicken, I rub the chicken or the chicken pieces all over with kosher salt and refrigerate them on a rack over a platter for 24 hours, turning over once, to air dry.

Chicken - a whole chicken cut up into 10 pieces (2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings, 2 breasts cut in half crossways for 4 pieces) or 10 pieces of your choosing (thighs, drumsticks, breasts, etc.)
Peanut oil for deep-frying
1 quart buttermilk for dipping

Coating
Mix together:
6 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
Maldon salt, crushed with your fingers

Cut off any obvious globules of fat and trim any skin that is obviously hanging from the pieces of chicken. Then dip each piece of chicken in the seasoned flour, then in buttermilk, then in the seasoned flour again.

Heat 2 inches of peanut oil to 350 degrees in a pan with sides between 5 and 6 inches high* and fry the chicken in the hot oil until it is almost mahogany brown. Be extremely careful not to tip the pan over because the oil is very hot. Sprinkle with a little ground or crushed with your fingers sea salt right before serving.

Serve hot, warm, or cold.

*Don't substitute a pan with shallow sides, like a skillet, frypan, or saute pan. Using a pan with high sides allows you to use the 2 inches of oil, and ensures that the oil does not splatter all over the kitchen. Clean-up is easy.