 The Armenian version of borscht is a hot soup made with beef stock , green peppers and other vegetables , which may or may not include beetroots , and flavored with parsley and cilantro . In Chinese cuisine , a soup known as <unk> sòng <unk> , or " Russian soup " , is based on red cabbage and tomatoes , and lacks beetroots altogether ; also known as " Chinese borscht " , it originated in Harbin , close to the Russian border in northeast China . In ethnic Mennonite cuisine , borscht refers to a whole range of seasonal vegetable soups based on beef or chicken stock – from spring borscht made with spinach , sorrel and chard to summer borscht with cabbage , tomatoes , corn and squash to fall and winter borscht with cabbage , beets and potatoes . 
