Borscht

In the 1920s, anti-communist Russian exiles fled to China, settling in cities like Shanghai, Harbin, and Tianjin. These White Russian émigrés created their own versions of Western food to suit the Chinese palate using local ingredients. During the Cultural Revolution, many moved south to Hong Kong, making their mark on the city’s multicultural food scene. Borscht, or “Russian soup,” is a cha chaan teng staple originating from Hong Kong’s iconic Queen’s Café, whose founder, Mischa Yu