Switched to fish sauce in my beef stock and nobody told me it would turn cloudy

I've been making pho base at the restaurant for about 4 years now, using the same combo of beef bones, charred onion, and star anise. Last month I ran out of my usual brand of fish sauce so I grabbed a different bottle from the Asian market in Portland. Dumped in my usual amount and the whole pot turned this weird milky brown color. Looked awful, like dirty dishwater. The flavor was actually fine, even a little deeper than normal, but the clarity was totally gone. My sous chef walked in and asked if I had accidentally dropped cream in there. I learned that different brands of fish sauce have wildly different protein and sediment levels that can mess with your stock clarity. Has anyone else run into this where swapping one ingredient completely changes the look of your final product?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbaraw472d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, did you filter it or strain it after? I'm wondering if the extra protein just needs to be skimmed off early or if it stays cloudy no matter what you do.

caleb_thomas932d ago

Filtering after the fact doesn't really fix it, the cloudiness sets in while it's still hot. Gotta skim the foam off right at the very beginning of the boil, like before it even gets to a full rolling boil. If you wait until after it's done, that protein has already broken down and just stays suspended.