Prepare a wash for the chicken by placing the buttermilk substitute (vinegar and milk) and hot sauce in a glass baking dish. Stir together well with wire whisk. Place chicken in the wash so it is mostly or fully submerged and cover the dish with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Prepare a dredge by combining the flour, salt, black pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Combine evenly in a large, flat glass baking dish.

After the chicken has sat in the wash for the half hour, you’re ready to prepare the chicken. Take each cutlet from the wash and cover on both sides with dredge mixture. Repeat for all pieces.

Place each flour-covered cutlet back in the wash. Then put each cutlet through the dredge again.

Place the twice-coated chicken on a wire cooling rack (with a plate underneath to catch any drippings) to rest for 10 minutes. This is an incredibly important step. If you fry immediately, the coating doesn’t have time to set and will flake off.

Fill a frying pan or skillet about 1- to 1½-inches full with vegetable oil and heat at medium-high temperature. Pan frying does a much better job than using a deep fryer. Take the time to wait for the oil to properly heat before frying the chicken. The temperature of the oil plays a major role in the quality of the fried chicken. If it’s not hot enough, the chicken won’t properly crisp. Too hot and the chicken gets super crispy on the outside and stays raw on the inside.

Place the cutlets in the pan. Be careful not to overcrowd. I typically do four pieces at a time. Fry until the submerged side starts to turn a golden brown. Using tongs, flip each cutlet over and continue to fry until the other side is also golden brown.

Remove from the oil and place on a paper-towel-covered plate. Let it rest for 3-5 minutes for the crisping process to finish.