Other regional recipes

There are local variations in the basic borscht recipe:

* In Belarusian the tomatoes are standard, sometimes in addition with beets. It is usually served with smetana (eastern-European style sour cream) and a traditional accompaniment of pampushki (sing. pampushka), small hot breads topped with fresh chopped garlic.

* In Polish cuisine, the beets are not standard. Besides the Ukrainian-style beet soup, Polish people enjoy a white Easter borscht. White borshch is made from a base of fermented rye, usually added to a broth of boiled white fresh kiełbasa. It is served hot with cubed rye bread and diced hard-boiled eggs added to the broth, and horseradish is often added to taste.
* In Russian cuisine, it usually includes beets, meat, and cabbage and optionally potatoes.
* In East Prussia sour cream (Schmand) and beef was served with the Beetenbartsch (lit. beetroot-borscht).
* In Lithuanian cuisine, dried mushrooms are often added.
* In Romanian cuisine, it is the name for any sour soup, prepared usually with fermented wheat bran (which is also called borş), which gives it a sour taste. In fact, the Romanian gastronomy uses with no discrimination the words ciorbă, borş or, sometimes, zeamă/acritură. One ingredient that is required in all recipes by the Romanian tradition is the lovage. Its leaves give a special taste, enhancing the palate experience, which makes the Romanian borş so appreciated by the international travelers.
* In Armenian cuisine, it is served warm with fresh sour cream.
* In Doukhobor cuisine, the main ingredient is cabbage, and the soup also contains beets, potatoes, tomatoes and heavy cream along with dill and leeks. This style of borscht is orange in colour, and is always eaten hot.
* In Hong Kong-style western cuisine, it includes tomatoes instead of beets, and also beef, cabbage, potatoes, bell peppers and carrots. Sometimes chili pepper is added.
* In Mennonite cuisine, borscht is a cabbage, beef, potato and tomato soup flavoured with onions, dill and black pepper. This soup is part of the cuisine absorbed by Mennonites in Ukraine and Russia. Mennonite "Summer Borscht" is made with sorrel and is garnished with a cold, boiled egg.
* In northern Chinese cuisine, particularly found in and around the city of Harbin in Heilongjiang province, an area with a long history of trade with Eastern Russia, the soup known as hóngtāng ("red soup") is mainly made with red cabbage.
* In mainland China borshch was borrowed as 罗宋汤 Luósòng-tāng via English ("Russian soup"), Luósòng is not the usual Chinese word for "Russia(n)" (usually: 俄罗斯 Éluósī) but borrowed from the English sound, it is identical to the Russian beef-based borshch.