It's difficult to jugde from your symptoms what's bugging you.
Yellow / light colourd stool may be a sign of bile fluid missing, and fatty stool can be very aggressive. That would explain the problems with the hash browns, they are quite fatty.
Perhaps you should have checked that there are no gallstones or an obstruction of the biliary tract, but that's just a guess.
On the other hand eating bitter stuff can stimulate the digestion juices.
Steve