Nana Harada-Robinson's Mountain Miso takes foodies of Orange by storm

It wasn't just any miso either. It was her family's secret recipe which had been taught to her by her grandmother.

Miso which means "fermented bean paste" in Japanese is a salty seasoning that is most commonly added to hot water to make a soup, and for best results, needs to be fermented for at least 12 months.

According to Mrs Harada-Robinson, every family in Japan has their own safely-guarded recipe for the dish, and people have placed great faith in its healing properties for thousands of years.

The Japanese-expat who has called Orange home with her husband for the past four years, initially wasn't sure how the miso would turn out using Australian soybeans and rice. Nor was she sure how the fermenting process would go in a climate so different from Japan's.

"There's not much health benefit unless you ferment for more than six months because... the starch needs to break down," she explained.

"There are hundreds of different types of miso... Because this is Australia and I'm using produce from NSW, this type of miso is unique. You can't even find it in Japan."

In that first year, she made "a lot of miso". So much in fact, once it had finished fermenting in her garage, she gave some of it to local chef, Richard Learmonth, who began adding it to dishes.

The positive feedback from restaurant customers was immediate. Diners wanted to know what this unique and rich flavour was and he pointed them to its creator.

Buoyed by this success, Mrs Harada-Robinson gave herself a business name Mountain Miso, and in September had her very first stall at Orange Farmer's Market.

Unsure what to expect, she had taken along 50 satchels of her miso, and was shocked when she sold out.

Pretty soon, she was even receiving enquiries from interstate.

"For me, what's really important [about miso] is that local people keep coming back, not just tourists," Mrs Harada-Robinson said.

As for her husband, after two years of them both having miso every day, not only was he cancer free, neither had had so much as a cold.

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