Cajun Popcorn (Batter-Fried Crawfish)

This is a recipe, one of several, given to me by my friend of many years, Paul Prudhomme, the finest Creole and Cajun chef. One taste of these and you can’t stop popping the tiny deep-fried crawfish into your mouth. That shrimp-shaped critter, incidentally, is always referred to as crawfish in the South. Crayfish to a Southern ear sounds pretentious, as though you are putting on airs.