In a medium to a large pot, combine salt, sugar, black peppercorns, lemon slices, crushed garlic cloves, bay leaves, dried thyme, and 1 liter (34 oz) of water. Stir together and bring to a boil over high heat. Let boil for 5-10 minutes to make sure all the flavors marry together then turn off the heat and let cool.

Add the remaining 1.5 liters (51 oz) of water and stir together. The mixture should taste like salty soup. If you find it to be too salty, add a mug or two of water but not much more as you don’t want to dilute the brine too much.

Add chicken tenders to the brine, cover pot, and place in the refrigerator to chill overnight.

When ready to cook, remove the chicken tenders from brine, pat dry and remove any herbs that might remain on the meat.

Discard brine once used, do not reuse.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika or cayenne, sea salt and black pepper. Mix together with a whisk until everything is evenly dispersed.

Remove 3 cups of seasoned flour mixture and place in another large mixing bowl. Add 1 egg and soda water. Whisk together until thoroughly combined. The batter should be thick but fluid enough so that it can coat the chicken tenders without too much of a sticky mess. If it is too thick, the coating won’t stick the meat and instead will slip off when bitten into. So add a splash more of cold soda water if you find it is too thick.

Take chicken tenders and dredge them in the seasoned flour mixture.

Dip floured chicken tenders into the batter and make sure it is completely coated in batter.

Remove chicken tenders from the batter and dredge back in seasoned flour mixture.

Repeat this process until all chicken is battered and dredged. Let sit in flour until ready to fry.

Heat oil in a fryer or large skillet, pot or pan over medium-high to high heat. You will want enough oil to deep fry them so be generous and use your best judgment as to how much you will need.

When the oil is hot (you’ll know if you drop a little bit of batter into it and the oil actively bubbles around it), shake excess flour off chicken tenders and fry in oil.

Fry for about 3-5 minutes on each side. Keep oil hot but not so hot that the outside burns before the center is cooked. Keep the oil at a steady medium-high heat with a fairly moderate bubble. Nothing too hot or with a furious sizzle.

When chicken is crispy and lightly golden brown, remove from oil and drain excess oil on paper towels.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce and enjoy.